Elucidation of the Mechanisms of Inter-domain Coupling in the Monomeric State of Enzyme I by High-pressure NMR

Abstract

The catalytic cycle of Enzyme I (EI), a phosphotransferase enzyme responsible for converting phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) into pyruvate, is characterized by a series of local and global conformational rearrangements. This multistep process includes a monomer-to-dimer transition, followed by an open-to-closed rearrangement of the dimeric complex upon PEP binding. In the present study, we investigate the thermodynamics of EI dimerization using a range of high-pressure solution NMR techniques complemented by SAXS experiments. ¹H-¹⁵N TROSY and ¹H-¹³C methyl TROSY NMR spectra combined with ¹⁵N relaxation measurements revealed that a native-like engineered variant of full-length EI fully dissociates into stable monomeric state above 1.5 kbar. Conformational ensembles of EI monomeric state were generated via a recently developed protocol combining coarse-grained molecular simulations with experimental backbone residual dipolar coupling measurements. Analysis of the structural ensembles provided detailed insights into the molecular mechanisms driving formation of the catalytically competent dimeric state, and reveals that each step of EI catalytical cycle is associated with a significant reduction in either inter- or intra-domain conformational entropy. Altogether, this study completes a large body work conducted by our group on EI and establishes a comprehensive structural and dynamical description of the catalytic cycle of this prototypical multidomain, oligomeric enzyme.

Keywords: Enzyme I; NMR relaxation; high-pressure NMR; phosphotransferase system; protein dynamics.