Role of active-site residues Tyr55 and Tyr114 in catalysis and substrate specificity of Corynebacterium diphtheriae C-S Lyase

In recent years there has been increased interest in bacterial methionine biosynthesis enzymes as antimicrobial targets because of their pivotal role in cell metabolism. C-S lyase from Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a pyridoxal 5′-phosphate-dependent enzyme in the transsulfuration pathway that catalyzes the α,β-elimination of sulfur-containing amino acids, such as L-cystathionine, to generate ammonia, pyruvate, and homocysteine, the immediate precursor of L-methionine. In order to gain deeper insight into the functional and dynamic properties of the enzyme, mutants of two highly conserved active-site residues, Y55F and Y114F, were characterized by UV-visible absorbance, fluorescence, and CD spectroscopy in the absence and presence of substrates and substrate analogs, as well as by steady-state kinetic studies. Substitution of Tyr55 with Phe apparently causes a 130-fold decrease in KdPLP at pH 8.5 providing evidence that Tyr55 plays a role in cofactor binding. Moreover, spectral data show that the mutant accumulates the external aldimine intermediate suggesting that the absence of interaction between the hydroxyl moiety and PLP-binding residue Lys222 causes a decrease in the rate of substrate deprotonation. Mutation of Tyr114 with Phe slightly influences hydrolysis of L-cystathionine, and causes a change in substrate specificity towards L-serine and O-acetyl-L-serine compared to the wild type enzyme. These findings, together with computational data, provide useful insights in the substrate specificity of C-S lyase, which seems to be regulated by active-site architecture and by the specific conformation in which substrates are bound, and will aid in development of inhibitors.