salicylates and 2-succinyl-6-hydroxycyclohexa-2-4-diene-1-carboxylic-acid

Menaquinone is a lipid-soluble molecule that plays an essential role as an electron carrier in the respiratory chain of many bacteria. We have previously shown that its biosynthesis in Escherichia coli involves a new intermediate, 2-succinyl-5-enolpyruvyl-6-hydroxy-3-cyclohexene-1-carboxylate (SEPHCHC), and requires an additional enzyme to convert this intermediate into (1 R,6 R)-2-succinyl-6-hydroxy-2,4-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxylate (SHCHC). Here, we report the identification and characterization of MenH (or YfbB), an enzyme previously proposed to catalyze a late step in menaquinone biosynthesis, as the SHCHC synthase. The synthase catalyzes a proton abstraction reaction that results in 2,5-elimination of pyruvate from SEPHCHC and the formation of SHCHC. It is an efficient enzyme ( k cat/ K M = 2.0 x 10 (7) M (-1) s (-1)) that provides a smaller transition-state stabilization than other enzymes catalyzing proton abstraction from carbon acids. Despite its lack of the proposed thioesterase activity, the SHCHC synthase is homologous to the well-characterized C-C bond hydrolase MhpC. The crystallographic structure of the Vibrio cholerae MenH protein closely resembles that of MhpC and contains a Ser-His-Asp triad typical of serine proteases. Interestingly, this triad is conserved in all MenH proteins and is essential for the SHCHC synthase activity. Mutational analysis found that the catalytic efficiency of the E. coli protein is reduced by 1.4 x 10 (3), 2.1 x 10 (5), and 9.3 x 10 (3) folds when alanine replaces serine, histidine, and aspartate of the triad, respectively. These results show that the SHCHC synthase is closely related to alpha/beta hydrolases but catalyzes a reaction mechanistically distinct from all known hydrolase reactions.

Topics: Catalysis; Conserved Sequence; Cyclohexanes; Escherichia coli Proteins; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Oxo-Acid-Lyases; Salicylates; Succinates; Vitamin K 2

Menaquinone is an electron carrier in the respiratory chain of Escherichia coli during anaerobic growth. Its biosynthesis involves (1R,6R)-2-succinyl-6-hydroxy-2,4-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxylic acid (SHCHC) as an intermediate, which is believed to be derived from isochorismate and 2-ketoglutarate by one of the biosynthetic enzymes-MenD. However, we found that the genuine MenD product is 2-succinyl-5-enolpyruvyl-6-hydroxy-3-cyclohexene-1-carboxylic acid (SEPHCHC), rather than SHCHC. This is supported by the following findings: (i) isochorismate consumption and SHCHC formation are not synchronized in the enzymic reaction, (ii) the rate of SHCHC formation is independent of the enzyme concentration, (iii) SHCHC is not formed in weakly acidic or neutral solutions in which the isochorismate substrate is readily consumed by MenD, and (iv) the MenD turnover product, formed under conditions disabling SHCHC formation, possesses spectroscopic characteristics consistent with the structure of SEPHCHC and spontaneously undergoes 2,5-elimination to form SHCHC and pyruvate in weakly basic solutions. Two properties of the intermediate, ultraviolet transparency and chemical instability, provide a rationale for the fact that SHCHC has been consistently mistaken as the MenD product. In accordance with these findings, MenD was rediscovered to be a highly efficient enzyme with a high second-order rate constant and should be renamed SEPHCHC synthase. Intriguingly, the enzymatic activity responsible for conversion of SEPHCHC into SHCHC appears not to associate with any of the known enzymes in menaquinone biosynthesis but is present in the crude extract of E. coli K12, suggesting that a genuine SHCHC synthase remains to be identified to fully elucidate the ubiquitous biosynthetic pathway.

Topics: Biosynthetic Pathways; Catalysis; Chorismic Acid; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acids; Cyclohexanes; Cyclohexenes; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Proteins; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Keto Acids; Oxo-Acid-Lyases; Reference Standards; Salicylates; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; Substrate Specificity; Succinates; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Terminology as Topic; Vitamin K 2

(1R,6R)-2-Succinyl-6-hydroxy-2,4-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxylate (SHCHC) synthase, also called MenD, participates in the menaquinone (vitamin K2) biosynthetic pathway. The enzyme is a part of the superfamily of ThDP-dependent enzymes; however, it is the only enzyme known to catalyze a Stetter-like 1,4-addition of a ThDP adduct to the beta-carbon of an unsaturated carboxylate. This is the first reported crystallization of the apoenzyme and holoenzyme forms of MenD. The apoenzyme crystals were obtained by sitting-drop vapour diffusion with 70% MPD. However, the crystals were too small to collect diffraction data and a search for better conditions was not successful. Single crystals of the holoenzyme with ThDP and Mn2+ as cofactors were obtained by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method with 35% ethylene glycol as precipitant. Diffraction data were collected on a cryocooled crystal to a resolution of 2.0 A at BioCARS, Advanced Photon Source (APS), Chicago, IL, USA. The crystal was found to belong to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 106.86, b = 143.06, c = 156.85 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90 degrees.

Topics: Apoenzymes; Crystallization; Cyclohexanes; Escherichia coli; Holoenzymes; Salicylates; Succinates

o-Succinylbenzoate synthase (OSBS) from Escherichia coli, a member of the enolase superfamily, catalyzes an exergonic dehydration reaction in the menaquinone biosynthetic pathway in which 2-succinyl-6-hydroxy-2,4-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxylate (SHCHC) is converted to 4-(2'-carboxyphenyl)-4-oxobutyrate (o-succinylbenzoate or OSB). Our previous structural studies of the Mg(2+).OSB complex established that OSBS is a member of the muconate lactonizing enzyme subgroup of the superfamily: the essential Mg(2+) is coordinated to carboxylate ligands at the ends of the third, fourth, and fifth beta-strands of the (beta/alpha)(7)beta-barrel catalytic domain, and the OSB product is located between the Lys 133 at the end of the second beta-strand and the Lys 235 at the end of the sixth beta-strand [Thompson, T. B., Garrett, J. B., Taylor, E. A, Meganathan, R., Gerlt, J. A., and Rayment, I. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 10662-76]. Both Lys 133 and Lys 235 were separately replaced with Ala, Ser, and Arg residues; all six mutants displayed no detectable catalytic activity. The structure of the Mg(2+).SHCHC complex of the K133R mutant has been solved at 1.62 A resolution by molecular replacement starting from the structure of the Mg(2+).OSB complex. This establishes the absolute configuration of SHCHC: the C1-carboxylate and the C6-OH leaving group are in a trans orientation, requiring that the dehydration proceed via a syn stereochemical course. The side chain of Arg 133 is pointed out of the active site so that it cannot function as a general base, whereas in the wild-type enzyme complexed with Mg(2+).OSB, the side chain of Lys 133 is appropriately positioned to function as the only acid/base catalyst in the syn dehydration. The epsilon-ammonium group of Lys 235 forms a cation-pi interaction with the cyclohexadienyl moiety of SHCHC, suggesting that Lys 235 also stabilizes the enediolate anion intermediate in the syn dehydration via a similar interaction.

Topics: Amino Acid Substitution; Binding Sites; Carbon-Carbon Lyases; Catalysis; Circular Dichroism; Crystallography, X-Ray; Cyclohexanes; Escherichia coli Proteins; Evolution, Molecular; Kinetics; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase; Salicylates; Succinates

The biosynthesis of o-succinylbenzoic acid (OSB), the first aromatic intermediate involved in the biosynthesis of menaquinone (vitamin K2) is demonstrated for the first time in the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Cell extracts were found to contain isochorismate synthase, 2-succinyl-6-hydroxy-2,4-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxylic acid (SHCHC) synthase-alpha-ketoglutarate decarboxylase and o-succinylbenzoic acid synthase activities. An odhA mutant which lacks the decarboxylase component (usually termed E1, EC 1.2.4.2, oxoglutarate dehydrogenase [lipoamide]) of the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex was found to synthesize SHCHC and form succinic semialdehyde-thiamine pyrophosphate. Thus, the presence of an alternate alpha-ketoglutarate decarboxylase activity specifically involved in menaquinone biosynthesis is established for B. subtilis. A number of OSB-requiring mutants were also assayed for the presence of the various enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of OSB. All mutants were found to lack only the SHCHC synthase activity.

Topics: Bacillus subtilis; Chorismic Acid; Cyclohexanes; Cyclohexenes; Ketoglutarate Dehydrogenase Complex; Mutation; Oxo-Acid-Lyases; Phenylbutyrates; Salicylates; Subcellular Fractions; Succinates; Vitamin K