RESUMO

Aminoglycosides are essential antibiotics used to treat severe infections caused mainly by Gram-negative bacteria. Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside and, despite its toxicity, is clinically used to treat several pulmonary and urinary infections. The commercial form of gentamicin is a mixture of five compounds with minor differences in the methylation of one of their aminosugars. In the case of two compounds, gentamicin C2 and C2a, the only difference is the stereochemistry of the methyl group attached to C-6'. GenB2 is the enzyme responsible for this epimerization and is one of the four PLP-dependent enzymes encoded by the gentamicin biosynthetic gene cluster. Herein, we have determined the structure of GenB2 in its holo form in complex with PMP and also in the ternary complex with gentamicin X2 and G418, two substrate analogues. Based on the structural analysis, we were able to identify the structural basis for the catalytic mechanism of this enzyme, which was also studied by site-directed mutagenesis. Unprecedently, GenB2 is a PLP-dependent enzyme from fold I, which is able to catalyze an epimerization but with a mechanism distinct from that of fold III PLP-dependent epimerases using a cysteine residue near the N-terminus. The substitution of this cysteine residue for serine or alanine completely abolished the epimerase function of the enzyme, confirming its involvement. This study not only contributes to the understanding of the enzymology of gentamicin biosynthesis but also provides valuable details for exploring the enzymatic production of new aminoglycoside derivatives.

Assuntos

Gentamicinas , Gentamicinas/metabolismo , Gentamicinas/biossíntese , Gentamicinas/química , Antibacterianos/química , Antibacterianos/biossíntese , Antibacterianos/metabolismo , Racemases e Epimerases/metabolismo , Racemases e Epimerases/genética , Racemases e Epimerases/química , Modelos Moleculares , Cristalografia por Raios X , Mutagênese Sítio-Dirigida , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Proteínas de Bactérias/química , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética

RESUMO

Background Esterases (EC 3.1.1.X) are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis ester bonds. These enzymes have large potential for diverse applications in fne industries, particularly in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and bioethanol production. Methods and results In this study, a gene encoding an esterase from Thermobifda fusca YX (TfEst) was successfully cloned, and its product was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purifed using afnity chromatography. The TfEst kinetic assay revealed catalytic efciencies of 0.58 s −1 mM−1, 1.09 s−1 mM−1, and 0.062 s−1 mM−1 against p-Nitrophenyl acetate, p-Nitrophenyl butyrate, and 1-naphthyl acetate substrates, respectively. Furthermore, TfEst also exhibited activity in a pH range from 6.0 to 10.0, with maximum activity at pH 8.0. The enzyme demonstrated a half-life of 20 min at 70 °C. Notably, TfEst displayed acetyl xylan esterase activity as evidenced by the acetylated xylan assay. The structural prediction of TfEst using AlphaFold indicated that has an α/β-hydrolase fold, which is consistent with other esterases. Conclusions The enzyme stability over a broad pH range and its activity at elevated temperatures make it an appealing candidate for industrial processes. Overall, TfEst emerges as a promising enzymatic tool with signifcant implications for the advancement of biotechnology and biofuels industries.

RESUMO

Glutathione peroxidases (GPx) are a family of enzymes with the ability to reduce organic and inorganic hydroperoxides to the corresponding alcohols using glutathione or thioredoxin as an electron donor. Here, we report the functional and structural characterization of a GPx identified in Trichoderma reesei (TrGPx). TrGPx was recombinantly expressed in a bacterial host and purified using affinity. Using a thioredoxin coupled assay, TrGPx exhibited activity of 28 U and 12.5 U in the presence of the substrates H2O2 and t-BOOH, respectively, and no activity was observed when glutathione was used. These results indicated that TrGPx is a thioredoxin peroxidase and hydrolyses H2O2 better than t-BOOH. TrGPx kinetic parameters using a pyrogallol assay resulted at Kmapp = 11.7 mM, Vmaxapp = 10.9 IU/μg TrGPx, kcat = 19 s−1 and a catalytic efficiency of 1.6 mM−1 s−1 to H2O2 as substrate. Besides that, TrGPx demonstrated an optimum pH ranging from 9.0–12.0 and a half-life of 36 min at 80 °C. TrGPx 3D-structure was obtained in a reduced state and non-catalytic conformation. The overall fold is similar to the other phospholipid-hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidases. These data contribute to understand the antioxidant mechanism in fungi and provide information for using antioxidant enzymes in biotechnological applications.