Enzyme Mechanisms Flashcards
What are the three things reaction mechanisms determine?
Where electrons are
Which bonds are broken/made
Flow of electrons
Describe BrØnsted acids and bases
Acid- proton donor
Base- proton acceptor
Describe lewis acids and bases
Acid- can form coordinate bonds with lone pairs
Base- has lone pairs available for sharing
What is the pH equation with a certain pKa?
pH = pKa + log10([A-]/[HA])
What factors determine acidity of an organic compound?
Strength of Y-H bond
Electronegativity of Y
Factors to stabilise Y- compared to YH
Nature of the solvent
What does pKa depend on?
Temperature
Ionic strength of solvent
Microenvironment
Describe the protonated and deprotonated forms of histidine
The protonated imidazolium cation is stabilised by 2 resonance structures
Deprotonated imidazole has 2 tautomers where either N is protonated
Why is cysteine more acidic than serine?
The S valance electrons are further from the nucleus than in O, so electrons are easier to donate
Describe RNase structure
V shaped
3-stranded antiparallel β-sheets
N-terminal helix with His12
4 SS bridges
What do RNases cut?
They act as endonucleases on ssRNA
Cleave P-O5’ bond
Cuts after a pyrimidine base (U or C), suggesting there must be a recognition site
Describe the key catalytic intermediate of the RNase reaction
2’-3’ cyclic nucleotide. This is cleaved in the second step of the RNase reaction
How were kinetic studies used to predict the active site of RNase?
The pH profile of Vmax is around 6-7, suggesting there might be 2 His residues in the active site- one acid, one base
How were His12 and His119 identified as active site residues in RNase?
Modified RNase could only have one key His modified at a time, but not together, His119 was 88% and His12 12% of the time, so one acted as an acid, the other a base
Describe the RNase A active site residues
His12 and His119 are directly involved in cleavage
Lys41 stabilises negatively charged phosphates in the intermediate
Describe the RNase A specificity pocket residues
Phe120- van der waals contacts with the RNA base
Ser123 and Thr45 are involved in hydrogen bonding
The pocket is too small for purines (AG)
What is the acidic active site residue of RNase?
His12
Give an example of a serine protease
Trypsin
Chymotrypsin
Elastase
Thrombin
Kallikrein
Compliment System
Blood clotting factors
What sort of reaction do serine proteases catalyse?
Hydrolysis of a scissile bond with water
How do the S1 and S1’ pockets bind to P1 and P1’ respectively?
S1 binds upstream and S1’ downstream of the scissile bond
How is chymotrypsin initially synthesized?
Inactive enzyme precursor (zymogen) called chymotrypsinogen
Where about in a polypeptide does chymotrypsin cleave?
After large aromatic residues (Phe, Tyr, Trp)
What is the catalytic triad in the chymotrypsin active site?
Ser195
His57
Asp102
How can Ser195 be modified in chymotrypsin?
PMSF blocks serine proteases by modifying Ser195, inhibiting the enzyme
DIPF is a nerve gas which blocks serine proteases and related molecules
How can His57 in Chymotrypsin be identified?
TPCK is a substrate analogue which binds at the active site and is nucleophilic attacked by His
Describe trypsin-like serine protease structure
Two β-barrels formed from 6 anti-parallel β-strands
His57, Ser195, Asp102 catalytic triad
Oxyanion hole
Specificity pocket
Main chain substrate binding
Describe how the chymotrypsin catalytic triad is stabilised
-ve Asp102 stabilises formation of +ve His57, so the proton from Ser195 can donate to His57
This makes Ser195 nucleophilic
Describe the chymotypsin oxyanion hole
Located near the carbonyl of the substrate scissile bond
Backbone amide hydrogens of Ser195 and Gly193 point to the active site to stabilize the tetrahedral enzyme-substrate intermediate
Describe the chymotrypsin mechanism
- His57 attacks Ser195 which attacks the carbonyl group of the substrate, forming a covalent bond. This forms a -ve tetrahedral intermediate stabilised by the oxyanion hole
- Tetrahedral intermediate decomposes to the acyl-enzyme intermediate with His57 donating the proton
- The enzyme is deacylated through another tetrahedral intermediate. Water is the nucleophile, Ser195 is the leaving group