The 1.8 angstrom resolution structure of hydroxycinnamoyl-coenzyme A hydratase-lyase (HCHL) from Pseudomonas fluorescens, an enzyme that catalyses the transformation of feruloyl-coenzyme A to vanillin

Philip M. Leonard, A. Marek Brzozowski, Andrey Lebedev, Caroline M. Marshall, Derek J. Smith, Chandra S. Verma, Nicholas J. Walton, Gideon Grogan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The crystal structure of hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA hydrataselyase (HCHL) from Pseudomonas fluorescens AN103 has been solved to 1.8 A resolution. HCHL is a member of the crotonase superfamily and catalyses the hydration of the acyl-CoA thioester of ferulic acid [3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl)prop-2-enoic acid] and the subsequent retro-aldol cleavage of the hydrated intermediate to yield vanillin (4-hydroxy3- methoxy-benzaldehyde). The structure contains 12 molecules in the asymmetric unit, in which HCHL assumes a hexameric structure of two stacked trimers. The substrate, feruloyl-CoA, was modelled into the active site based on the structure of enoyl-CoA hydratase bound to the feruloyl-CoA-like substrate 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)-cinnamoyl-CoA (PDB code 1ey3). Feruloyl-CoA was bound in this model between helix 3 of the A subunit and helix 9 of the B subunit. A highly ordered structural water in the HCHL structure coincided with the thioester carbonyl of feruloyl-CoA in the model, suggesting that the oxyanion hole for stabilization of a thioester-derived enolate, characteristic of coenzyme-A dependent members of the crotonase superfamily, is conserved. The model also suggested that a strong hydrogen bond between the phenolic hydroxyl groups of feruloyl-CoA and BTyr239 may be an important determinant of the enzyme's ability to discriminate between the natural substrate and cinnamoyl-CoA, which is not a substrate.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1494-1501
Number of pages8
JournalActa Crystallographica. Section D, Biological Crystallography
Volume62
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2006

Keywords

  • CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE
  • CROTONASE SUPERFAMILY
  • COA HYDRATASE
  • ACID
  • METABOLISM
  • HYDROLASE
  • ISOMERASE
  • CLEAVAGE
  • HOMOLOG
  • BINDING

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