Carboxypeptidase water-promoted tetrahedral

Fig. 31. Mechanistic proposal for peptide hydrolysis catalyzed by carboxypeptidase A (Christianson and Lipscomb, 1989). (a) The precatalytic Michaelis complex with substrate carbonyl hydrogen bonded to Arg-127 allows for nucleophilic attack by a water molecule promoted by zinc and assisted by Glu-270 (an outer-sphere C==O Zn interaction is not precluded), (b) Tbe stabilized tetrahedral intermediate collapses, with required proton donation by Glu-270 (Monzingo and Matthews, 1984) Glu-270 may play a bifunctional catalytic role (Schepartz and Breslow, 1987), which results in the product complex (c). [Reprinted with permission from Christianson, D. W., Lipscomb, W. N. (1989) Acc. Chem. Res. 22,62-69. Copyright 1989 American Chemical Society.]...

The collapse of the proteolytic tetrahedral intermediate of the promoted-water pathway requires a proton donor in order to facilitate the departure of the leaving amino group. Rees and Lipscomb (1982) considered Glu-270, but favored Tyr-248 for this role, but Monzingo and Matthews (1984) fully elaborated on a role for Glu-270 of carboxypeptidase A and Glu-143 of thermolysin as intermediate proton donors. This proposal for carboxypeptidase A is corroborated by the near-normal activity observed for the Tyr-248- Phe mutant of rat carboxypeptidase A (Garden et al, 1985 Hilvert et al, 1986) and is reflected in the mechanistic scheme of Fig. 31 (Christianson and Lipscomb, 1989). Mock (1975) considered Glu-270 a proton donor in the carboxypeptidase A mechanism, but his mechanism does not favor a Glu-270/zinc-promoted water molecule as the hydrolytic nucleophile. Schepartz and Breslow (1987) observed that Glu-270 may mediate an additional proton transfer in the generation of the Pi product carboxylate. 

Figure 9. Proposed catalysic mechanism for carboxypeptidase A where water acts as the nucleophile, (a) nucleophilic attack by a water molecule on the carbonyl carbon of the substrate promoted by zinc and assisted by Glu270 with concommitant transfer of i proton to Glu270 (b) a tetrahedral intermediate, stabilized by interactions with Argl27 and the zinc ion, collapses with a proton donated by Glu270 (c) a second proton transfei results in product formation (d).

Figure 12.9 Proposed catalytic mechanism for carboxypeptidase A. The C-terminal residue, R represent a bulky, hydrophobic side chain. Carboxypeptidase (EC3.3.4.17.-) promotes the polarization of the scissile carbonyl group by hydrogen bonding to Argl27, the activation of water molecule by Zn and its deprotonation by Glu270. The zinc-hydroxide ion attack on the carbonyl carbon forms the tetrahedral oxyanion transition state. The formation of products requires protonation of the amino leaving group presumably by Glu270...

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