Kinetic behavior of the NAD(P)H:Quinone oxidoreductase WrbA from Escherichia coli.

This Ph.D. thesis addresses the structure-function relationship of the multimeric oxidoreductase WrbA with the principal aim being the explanation of the unusual kinetics of this enzyme in molecular terms, and thus getting an insight about its physiological role in bacteria. WrbA is a multimeric enzyme with FMN as a co-factor, catalyzing the oxidation of NADH by a two electrons transfer. Structure and function analysis of WrbA places this enzyme between bacterial flavodoxins and eukaryotic oxidoreductases in terms of its evolutionary relationship. The kinetic activity of WrbA was studied under varying conditions such as temperature, pH etc, and its kinetic mechanism was evaluated from parameters KM and Vmax and confirmed by product inhibition pattern experiments. Crystallization and proteolytic experiments also underpin the functional importance of the multimeric nature of WrbA and aid the understanding of the physiological role of this enzyme in molecular terms

Roughness of Transmembrane Helices Reduces Lipid Membrane Dynamics

Summary: The dynamics of cellular membranes is primarily determined by lipid species forming a bilayer. Proteins are considered mainly as effector molecules of diverse cellular processes. In addition to large assemblies of proteins, which were found to influence properties of fluid membranes, biological membranes are densely populated by small, highly mobile proteins. However, little is known about the effect of such proteins on the dynamics of membranes. Using synthetic peptides, we demonstrate that transmembrane helices interfere with the mobility of membrane components by trapping lipid acyl chains on their rough surfaces. The effect is more pronounced in the presence of cholesterol, which segregates from the rough surface of helical peptides. This may contribute to the formation or stabilization of membrane heterogeneities. Since roughness is a general property of helical transmembrane segments, our results suggest that, independent of their size or cytoskeleton linkage, integral membrane proteins affect local membrane dynamics and organization. : Computational Molecular Modelling; Membrane Architecture; Biophysics; Protein Physics Subject Areas: Computational Molecular Modelling, Membrane Architecture, Biophysics, Protein Physic

Biphasic kinetic behavior of E. coli WrbA, an FMN-dependent NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase.

The E. coli protein WrbA is an FMN-dependent NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase that has been implicated in oxidative defense. Three subunits of the tetrameric enzyme contribute to each of four identical, cavernous active sites that appear to accommodate NAD(P)H or various quinones, but not simultaneously, suggesting an obligate tetramer with a ping-pong mechanism in which NAD departs before oxidized quinone binds. The present work was undertaken to evaluate these suggestions and to characterize the kinetic behavior of WrbA. Steady-state kinetics results reveal that WrbA conforms to a ping-pong mechanism with respect to the constancy of the apparent Vmax to Km ratio with substrate concentration. However, the competitive/non-competitive patterns of product inhibition, though consistent with the general class of bi-substrate reactions, do not exclude a minor contribution from additional forms of the enzyme. NMR results support the presence of additional enzyme forms. Docking and energy calculations find that electron-transfer-competent binding sites for NADH and benzoquinone present severe steric overlap, consistent with the ping-pong mechanism. Unexpectedly, plots of initial velocity as a function of either NADH or benzoquinone concentration present one or two Michaelis-Menten phases depending on the temperature at which the enzyme is held prior to assay. The effect of temperature is reversible, suggesting an intramolecular conformational process. WrbA shares these and other details of its kinetic behavior with mammalian DT-diaphorase, an FAD-dependent NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase. An extensive literature review reveals several other enzymes with two-plateau kinetic plots, but in no case has a molecular explanation been elucidated. Preliminary sedimentation velocity analysis of WrbA indicates a large shift in size of the multimer with temperature, suggesting that subunit assembly coupled to substrate binding may underlie the two-plateau behavior. An additional aim of this report is to bring under wider attention the apparently widespread phenomenon of two-plateau Michaelis-Menten plots

Biphasic Kinetic Behavior of E. coli WrbA, an FMN-Dependent NAD(P)H:Quinone Oxidoreductase

PLoS ONE. Volume 7, Issue 8, 29 August 2012, Article number e43902.The E. coli protein WrbA is an FMN-dependent NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase that has been implicated in oxidative defense. Three subunits of the tetrameric enzyme contribute to each of four identical, cavernous active sites that appear to accommodate NAD(P)H or various quinones, but not simultaneously, suggesting an obligate tetramer with a ping-pong mechanism in which NAD departs before oxidized quinone binds. The present work was undertaken to evaluate these suggestions and to characterize the kinetic behavior of WrbA. Steady-state kinetics results reveal that WrbA conforms to a ping-pong mechanism with respect to the constancy of the apparent Vmax to Km ratio with substrate concentration. However, the competitive/non-competitive patterns of product inhibition, though consistent with the general class of bi-substrate reactions, do not exclude a minor contribution from additional forms of the enzyme. NMR results support the presence of additional enzyme forms. Docking and energy calculations find that electron-transfer-competent binding sites for NADH and benzoquinone present severe steric overlap, consistent with the ping-pong mechanism. Unexpectedly, plots of initial velocity as a function of either NADH or benzoquinone concentration present one or two Michaelis-Menten phases depending on the temperature at which the enzyme is held prior to assay. The effect of temperature is reversible, suggesting an intramolecular conformational process. WrbA shares these and other details of its kinetic behavior with mammalian DT-diaphorase, an FAD-dependent NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase. An extensive literature review reveals several other enzymes with two-plateau kinetic plots, but in no case has a molecular explanation been elucidated. Preliminary sedimentation velocity analysis of WrbA indicates a large shift in size of the multimer with temperature, suggesting that subunit assembly coupled to substrate binding may underlie the two-plateau behavior. An additional aim of this report is to bring under wider attention the apparently widespread phenomenon of two-plateau Michaelis-Menten plots. © 2012 Kishko et al

Substrate affinity.

<p><b>A.</b> NADH binding to 50 µM apoWrbA determined by UV spectroscopy. Difference absorbance at 265 nm (see text) is plotted <i>vs.</i> [NADH]. The solid line is intended only to guide the eye and does not represent a fit to the data. <b>B.</b> NAD binding to 200 µM apoWrbA detected by ³¹P NMR. Spectra at 100, 200, 500, 1000 and 2000 µM NAD from bottom to top, respectively, are overlaid. The bracket with four arrows indicates the doublet pair characteristic of free NAD.</p

Sedimentation velocity.

<p>Each panel shows the sedimentation velocity profile using the whole boundary g(s*) approach of Stafford <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0043902#pone.0043902-Stafford1" target="_blank">[28]</a> for apoWrbA (black), WrbA+50 µM FMN (red), and WrbA+50 µM FMN+0.5 mM NAD (blue). A, 3 µM total protein (monomer) at 5°C; B, 3 µM total protein (monomer) at 20°C; C, 20 µM total protein (monomer) at 5°C; D, 20 µM total protein (monomer) at 20°C.</p

Substrate binding sites. A. NADH.

<p>View of the active site with NADH bound in the optimized position found by docking as described in the text. Green, molecular surface of holoWrbA calculated from the 2.05 Å crystal structure (PDB ID 3B6J) after removal of the FMN cofactor. Oxidized FMN is depicted as a skeletal model in atomic colors with cyan carbon, and docked NADH with white carbons for differentiation from FMN. Dashed lines represent the indicated distances in Å between nicotinamide C4 and each indicated electron acceptor site of FMN. <b>B. Mutual exclusivity of NADH and BQ.</b> Viewpoint of the binding cavity as in panel A but slightly zoomed out to better depict the steric environment of the full pocket. Translucent white indicates the molecular surface of NADH in the position identified by docking as in panel A; red indicates the molecular surface of BQ calculated from the 1.99 Å crystal structure of the BQ/WrbA complex (PDB ID 3B6K). The part of each substrate that is occluded by the other is represented by the overlap between the red and translucent white surfaces.</p

Product Inhibition^a.

a<p>Kinetic data are presented in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0043902#pone.0043902.s003" target="_blank">Figure S3</a>.</p

Steady-state kinetics.

<p>Initial velocity (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0043902#s4" target="_blank">Methods</a>) is plotted <i>vs.</i> substrate concentration. <b>A.</b> NADH at constant [BQ] = 50 µM. <b>B.</b> BQ at constant [NADH] = 50 µM. <b>C.</b> DCPIP at constant [NADH] = 50 µM. Each plot depicts three temperature treatments of WrbA prior to assay (see text): squares, 5°C; triangles, 23°C; circles, 5°C after 23°C. Solid lines are intended only to guide the eye and do not represent fits to the data.</p

Effect of salt.

<p>Initial velocities at 5°C are plotted <i>vs.</i> substrate concentration. <b>A.</b> Titration of BQ at [NADH] = 100 µM with no salt (circles), 0.25 M NaCl (squares), and 0.5 M NaCl (triangles). <b>B.</b> Titration of DCPIP at [NADH] = 100 µM; symbols as in panel A. Solid lines are intended only to guide the eye and do not represent fits to the data.</p