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Title: Relative binding affinities of monolignols to horseradish peroxidase

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry. B, Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces and Biophysical Chemistry
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Monolignol binding to the peroxidase active site is the first step in lignin polymerization in plant cell walls. Using molecular dynamics, docking, and free energy perturbation calculations, we investigate the binding of monolignols to horseradish peroxidase C. Our results suggest that p-coumaryl alcohol has the strongest binding affinity followed by sinapyl and coniferyl alcohol. Stacking interactions between the monolignol aromatic rings and nearby phenylalanine residues play an important role in determining the calculated relative binding affinities. p-Coumaryl and coniferyl alcohols bind in a pose productive for reaction in which a direct H-bond is formed between the phenolic –OH group and a water molecule (W2) that may facilitate proton transfer during oxidation. In contrast, in the case of sinapyl alcohol there is no such direct interaction, the phenolic –OH group instead interacting with Pro139. Furthermore, since proton and electron transfer is the rate-limiting step in monolignol oxidation by peroxidase, the binding pose (and thus the formation of near attack conformation) appears to play a more important role than the overall binding affinity in determining the oxidation rate.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). BioEnergy Science Center (BESC)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1327712
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry. B, Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces and Biophysical Chemistry, Vol. 120, Issue 31; ISSN 1520-6106
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright 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 (2)

The role of weak interactions in lignin polymerization journal February 2017
Acceleration of Mechanistic Investigation of Plant Secondary Metabolism Based on Computational Chemistry journal June 2019