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Title: Structural Determinants of the Stereoinverting Activity of Pseudomonas stutzeri d-Phenylglycine Aminotransferase

Journal Article · · Biochemistry

Aromatic d-amino acids are key precursors for the production of many small molecule therapeutics. Therefore, the development of biocatalytic methods for their synthesis is of great interest. An enzyme that has great potential as a biocatalyst for the synthesis of d-amino acids is the stereoinverting d-phenylglycine aminotransferase (DPAT) from Pseudomonas stutzeri ST-201. This enzyme catalyzes a unique l to d transamination reaction that produces d-phenylglycine and α-ketoglutarate from benzoylformate and l-glutamate, via a mechanism that is poorly understood. Here, we present the crystal structure of DPAT, which shows that the enzyme folds into a two-domain structure representative of class III aminotransferases. Guided by the crystal structure, we performed saturation mutagenesis to probe the substrate binding pockets of the enzyme. Here, these experiments helped us identify two arginine residues (R34 and R407), one in each binding pocket, that are essential to catalysis. Together with kinetic analyses using a library of amino acid substrates, our mutagenesis and structural studies allow us to propose a binding model that explains the dual l/d specificity of DPAT. Our kinetic analyses also demonstrate that DPAT can catalyze the transamination of β- and γ-amino acids, reclassifying this enzyme as an ω-aminotransferase. Collectively, our studies highlight that the DPAT active site is amenable to protein engineering for expansion of its substrate scope, which offers the opportunity to generate new biocatalysts for the synthesis of a variety of valuable optically pure d-amino acids from inexpensive and abundant l-amino acids.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Innovation; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); Canada Foundation for Innovation
Grant/Contract Number:
ER14-10-139; RGPIN-2016-04831; RGPIN-2015-06503
OSTI ID:
1476087
Journal Information:
Biochemistry, Vol. 57, Issue 37; ISSN 0006-2960
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 4 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (1)

Genetic engineering approaches for the fermentative production of phenylglycines journal February 2020