Structural and Mechanistic Insight Into the Basis of Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB
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Structural and mechanistic insight into the basis of mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB Elizabeth Ficko-Blean†, Keith A. Stubbs‡, Oksana Nemirovsky†, David J. Vocadlo‡, and Alisdair B. Boraston†§ †Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, Station CSC, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 3P6; and ‡Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6 Edited by Gregory A. Petsko, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, and approved March 6, 2008 (received for review December 5, 2007) Mucopolysaccharidosis III (MPS III) has four forms (A–D) that result inhibitors of this enzyme, obtain structures of the enzyme in from buildup of an improperly degraded glycosaminoglycan in complex with these inhibitors, and elucidate the catalytic mech- lysosomes. MPS IIIB is attributable to the decreased activity of a anism of this enzyme. These studies should significantly facilitate lysosomal ␣-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAGLU). Here, we describe the rational design of chemical chaperones that could be used to the structure, catalytic mechanism, and inhibition of CpGH89 from treat this deleterious genetic illness. Clostridium perfringens, a close bacterial homolog of NAGLU. The structure enables the generation of a homology model of NAGLU, Results and Discussion an enzyme that has resisted structural studies despite having been Activity and Structure of CpGH89. The genome of C. perfringens, studied for >20 years. This model reveals which mutations giving ATCC 13124, contains an ORF (CPF0859) that encodes a rise to MPS IIIB map to the active site and which map to regions putative 2,095-aa protein. This protein is classified into glycoside distant from the active site. The identification of potent inhibitors hydrolase family 89 and shares significant amino acid sequence of CpGH89 and the structures of these inhibitors in complex with similarity with the related family 89 glycoside hydrolase from the enzyme suggest small-molecule candidates for use as chemical Homo sapiens known as NAGLU. After molecular dissection of chaperones. These studies therefore illuminate the genetic basis of the modular structure of the C. perfringens GH89, we were able MPS IIIB, provide a clear biochemical rationale for the necessary to overproduce a truncated construct in Escherichia coli com- sequential action of heparan-degrading enzymes, and open the prising residues 26–916 and purify the resulting polypeptide, door to the design and optimization of chemical chaperones for which, for simplicity, is referred to here as CpGH89. treating MPS IIIB. CpGH89 was screened for catalytic activity against a panel of synthetic substrates, and activity was detected only toward Clostridium perfringens ͉ crystal structure ͉ Sanfilippo ͉ hexosaminidase ͉ para-nitrophenyl ␣-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminide (pNP-␣-GlcNAc), NAGLU consistent with the known activity of NAGLU. This substrate produced a bell-shaped activity/pH profile, suggesting that two ucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) is one group of autosomal residues with kinetic pKa values of Ϸ6.3 and Ϸ8.0 must be Mrecessive lysosomal storage disorders caused by the accu- maintained in appropriate ionization states [see supporting mulation of undegraded glycosaminoglycans in lysosomes. MPS information (SI) Fig. S1]. Further kinetic characterization at the III, or Sanfilippo syndrome, is characterized by the impaired optimum pH of 7.3 was carried out to determine the values of Km function of one of four lysosomal enzymes involved in the Ϫ1 Ϫ1 (1.1 Ϯ 0.1 mM), kcat (2.6 Ϯ 0.1 ϫ 10 s ), and kcat/Km (2.5 Ϯ sequential degradation of heparan sulfate. MPS IIIA is caused by 0.3 ϫ 10Ϫ1 mMϪ1sϪ1) of the enzyme toward pNP-␣-GlcNAc. the reduced activity of heparan sulfate sulfamidase, MPS IIIB is The substrate dNP-␣-GlcNAc (2,4-dinitrophenyl ␣-N-acetyl-D- caused by the reduced activity of an ␣-N-acetylglucosaminidase glucosaminide) (10) is turned over significantly more quickly (NAGLU), MPS IIIC is caused by the reduced activity of acetyl- with corresponding values for K , k , and k /K of 7.4 Ϯ 1.1 ϫ CoA:␣-glucosaminide-N-acetyltransferase, and MPS IIID is caused m cat cat m 10Ϫ1 mM, 8.5 Ϯ 0.4 sϪ1, and 11.6 Ϯ 2.3 mMϪ1sϪ1, respectively. by the reduced activity of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine 6-sulfatase (1). The structure of CpGH89 was solved by SIR with a HoCl This tragic disease initially manifests as aggressiveness and hyper- 3 Materials and Methods activity, later progressing to mental retardation and, ultimately, derivative (see ). A single molecule of CNS degeneration. There is currently no cure or effective treatment CpGH89, which is composed of four distinct domains, was for this disease, and patients generally only survive into early present in the asymmetric unit. The N-terminal domain (residues adulthood. 26–155) is a putative family 32 carbohydrate-binding module  NAGLU, a family 89 ␣-N-acetylglucosaminidase (www.cazy. (CBM) having the typical -sandwich fold adopted by many ␣  org), is responsible for cleaving the glycosidic bond found in the CBMs (11). The catalytic region comprises a small / domain ␣  backbone of heparan and thus plays a key role in heparan (residues 170–280), an elaborated ( / )8 barrel (residues 280– ␣ recycling. More than 100 different mutations in the naglu gene 620), and an all -helical domain that packs against the first three have been associated with the MPS IIIB phenotype, and bio- domains (residues 621–916) (Fig. 1A). The elaborations on the chemical studies have confirmed the deleterious effects of many of these mutations (1–9). Despite having been cloned Ͼ10 years Author contributions: E.F.-B. and A.B.B. designed research; E.F.-B., K.A.S., O.N., D.J.V., and ago, no structural or mechanistic data for NAGLU have been A.B.B., performed research; E.F.-B., K.A.S., D.J.V., and A.B.B. analyzed data; and E.F.-B., obtained, hindering the development of potential therapeutic D.J.V., and A.B.B. wrote the paper. strategies to treat patients suffering from MPS IIIB. To gain The authors declare no conflict of interest. insight into the structure and function of this medically impor- This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. tant enzyme, we cloned CpGH89, a bacterial family 89 glycoside Data deposition: The atomic coordinates have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank, hydrolase from Clostridium perfringens, to use as a model for www.pdb.org [PDB ID codes 2VCC (for the native structure), 2VCA (for the GLcNAc NAGLU because they share a significant level of amino acid complex), 2VC9 (for the 2AcDNJ complex), and 2VCB (for the PUGNAc complex)]. sequence identity (Ϸ30%). Here, we detail the structure of this §To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]. enzyme and a homology model of the human enzyme. These This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/ structures enable us to map the positions of the known mutations 0711491105/DCSupplemental. causing MPS IIIB onto the structure. Further, we identify potent © 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA 6560–6565 ͉ PNAS ͉ May 6, 2008 ͉ vol. 105 ͉ no. 18 www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0711491105 Downloaded by guest on September 25, 2021 Fig. 1. The structure and mechanism of CpGH89. (A) A cartoon representation of CpGH89 showing its overall fold. Its constituent domains are colored as follows: light blue, N-terminal domain with amino acid sequence similarity to family 32 carbohydrate-binding domains; yellow, linking ␣/ domain; red and blue (with small elaborations shown in green), core (␣/)8 barrel; purple, C-terminal all ␣-domain. A bound N-acetyl-D-glucosamine in the product complex is shown in blue stick representation, and the putative catalytic residues are shown in gray stick representation (labeled). (B) Active-site representation for the product complex Ϫ 3 N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. The blue mesh shows the maximum likelihood (43)/a (49)-weighted electron density maps contoured at 0.26 e /Å . The product (green) and key active site residues (gray), including the putative catalytic residues Glu-483 and Glu-601, are shown in stick representation. Putative hydrogen bonds between the protein and ligand, identified by using the criteria of proper geometry and a distance cutoff of 3.2 Å, are shown as dotted magenta lines. (C) The N-acetyl-D-glucosamine of the product complex in active site whose solvent accessible surface has been rendered and partially cut away to show the deep pocket of the catalytic site. The catalytic residues are shown in gray stick representation and the N-acetyl-D-glucosamine in green stick representation. (D) The hydrolysis of dNP-␣-GlcNAc measured as a function of time by 1H NMR spectroscopy. (␣/)8 barrel comprise extensions of defined secondary structure (Fig. 1D) clearly revealed the rapid appearance of the ␣-anomer that pile onto one face of the (␣/)8 core (Fig. 1A, green). of GlcNAc (␣-D-GlcNAc), illuminating a catalytic mechanism proceeding via retention of stereochemistry. The gradual ap- Family 89 Glycoside Hydrolases Use a Retaining Catalytic Mechanism. pearance of the -anomer of GlcNAc was due to the slow Soaking crystals of CpGH89 with pNP-␣-GlcNAc produced a mutarotation of ␣-D-GlcNAc. product complex with a single molecule of -D-GlcNAc in the Mutation of Glu-601 to alanine abolished activity as far as active site (Fig. 1B). The active site of CpGH89 is a ‘‘sock’’- could be evaluated by our enzyme assays using pNP-␣-GlcNAc. shaped cavity lined primarily with aromatic amino acid side The analogous substitution at Glu-483 reduced the value of kcat Ϫ2 Ϫ1 chains (Fig. 1 B and C). The bottom of this pocket accommodates 10-fold (3.2 Ϯ 0.4 ϫ 10 s ) and increased the value of Km the terminal nonreducing sugar unit of the substrate glycoside. 2-fold (2.3 Ϯ 0.4 mM), thus decreasing kcat/Km by Ϸ20-fold (1.4 Ϯ The plane formed by the pyranose ring of the sugar sits roughly 0.3 ϫ 10Ϫ2 mMϪ1sϪ1) and confirming these residues’ key roles perpendicular to the entrance path into the active site.