Crystal structure of aldoxime dehydratase and its catalytic mechanism involved in carbon-nitrogen triple-bond synthesis.
Nomura, J., Hashimoto, H., Ohta, T., Hashimoto, Y., Wada, K., Naruta, Y., Oinuma, K., Kobayashi, M.(2013) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110: 2810-2815
- PubMed: 23382199 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1200338110
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
3W08 - PubMed Abstract: 
Aldoxime dehydratase (OxdA), which is a unique heme protein, catalyzes the dehydration of an aldoxime to a nitrile even in the presence of water in the reaction mixture. Unlike the utilization of H(2)O(2) or O(2) as a mediator of catalysis by other heme-containing enzymes (e.g., P450), OxdA is notable for the direct binding of a substrate to the heme iron. Here, we determined the crystal structure of OxdA. We then constructed OxdA mutants in which each of the polar amino acids lying within ∼6 Å of the iron atom of the heme was converted to alanine. Among the purified mutant OxdAs, S219A had completely lost and R178A exhibited a reduction in the activity. Together with this finding, the crystal structural analysis of OxdA and spectroscopic and electrostatic potential analyses of the wild-type and mutant OxdAs suggest that S219 plays a key role in the catalysis, forming a hydrogen bond with the substrate. Based on the spatial arrangement of the OxdA active site and the results of a series of mutagenesis experiments, we propose the detailed catalytic mechanism of general aldoxime dehydratases: (i) S219 stabilizes the hydroxy group of the substrate to increase its basicity; (ii) H320 acts as an acid-base catalyst; and (iii) R178 stabilizes the heme, and would donate a proton to and accept one from H320.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Institute of Applied Biochemistry and Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan.