TY - JOUR

T1 - Site-directed mutagenesis of key amino acids in the active site of amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea

AU - Albenne, Cécile

AU - Potocki De Montalk, Gabrielle

AU - Monsan, Pierre

AU - Skov, Lars

AU - Mirza, Osman

AU - Gajhede, Michael

AU - Remaud-Simeon, Magali

PY - 2002/12/1

Y1 - 2002/12/1

N2 - Amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea (AS) is a glucosyltransferase from family 13 of the glycoside hydrolases. In this family, AS shows an unusual specificity for sucrose, which is the best substrate for the enzyme. AS synthesises, from this high-energy substrate, an amylose-like polymer. In addition, it catalyses the transfer of glucose units from sucrose onto acceptor molecules like glucose, maltooligosaccharides or glycogen. Finally, it catalyses the disproportionation of maltooligosaccharides. A structural analysis of a mutated AS complexed with sucrose led to a detailed description of the active site and of the interactions between sucrose and AS at subsites -1 and +1. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments confirmed the essential role of residues always conserved in the α-amylase family. The nucleophile Asp286 and the general acid-base catalyst Glu328 are identified unequivocally. The conserved residues Asp393, His187, His 392, Arg284 and the stacking residues Tyr147 and Phe250 are critical for the enzymatic activity. These results support, for AS, an α-retaining mechanism via a double-displacement, similar to that described for α-amylases. In addition, the salt bridge formed by Asp144 and Arg509 is essential for the architecture of the active site and consequently for the sucrose specificity. Finally, Asp394 and Arg446 which interact with the fructosyl ring are not essential for activity towards sucrose but could be crucial for the binding of acceptor molecules.

AB - Amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea (AS) is a glucosyltransferase from family 13 of the glycoside hydrolases. In this family, AS shows an unusual specificity for sucrose, which is the best substrate for the enzyme. AS synthesises, from this high-energy substrate, an amylose-like polymer. In addition, it catalyses the transfer of glucose units from sucrose onto acceptor molecules like glucose, maltooligosaccharides or glycogen. Finally, it catalyses the disproportionation of maltooligosaccharides. A structural analysis of a mutated AS complexed with sucrose led to a detailed description of the active site and of the interactions between sucrose and AS at subsites -1 and +1. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments confirmed the essential role of residues always conserved in the α-amylase family. The nucleophile Asp286 and the general acid-base catalyst Glu328 are identified unequivocally. The conserved residues Asp393, His187, His 392, Arg284 and the stacking residues Tyr147 and Phe250 are critical for the enzymatic activity. These results support, for AS, an α-retaining mechanism via a double-displacement, similar to that described for α-amylases. In addition, the salt bridge formed by Asp144 and Arg509 is essential for the architecture of the active site and consequently for the sucrose specificity. Finally, Asp394 and Arg446 which interact with the fructosyl ring are not essential for activity towards sucrose but could be crucial for the binding of acceptor molecules.

KW - α-amylase

KW - Active site

KW - Amylosucrase

KW - Site-directed mutagenesis

KW - Substrate specificity

KW - Sucrose

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0346706012&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:0346706012

VL - 57

SP - 119

EP - 128

JO - Biologia - Section Cellular and Molecular Biology

JF - Biologia - Section Cellular and Molecular Biology

SN - 1335-6399

IS - SUPPL. 11

ER -