Probing Substrate Interactions in the Active Tunnel of a Catalytically Deficient Cellobiohydrolase (Cel7)

Abstract

Cellobiohydrolases break down cellulose sequentially by sliding along the crystal surface with a single cellulose strand threaded through the catalytic tunnel of the enzyme. This socalled processive mechanism relies on a complex pattern of enzyme-substrate interactions, which need to be addressed in molecular descriptions of processivity and its driving forces. Here, we have used titration calorimetry to study interactions of cellooligosaccharides (COS) and a catalytically deficient variant (E212Q) of the enzyme Cel7A from Trichoderma reesei. This enzyme has 10 glucopyranose subsites in the catalytic tunnel, and using COS ligands with a degree of polymerization (DP) from 2 to 8, different regions of the tunnel could be probed. For COS ligands with a DP of 2?3 the binding constants were around 105M1, and for longer ligands (DP 5?8) this value was 107M1. Within each of these groups we did not find increased affinity as the ligands got longer and potentially filled more subsites. On the contrary, we found a small but consistent affinity loss as DP rose from 6 to 8, particularly at the higher investigated temperatures. Other thermodynamic functions (H, S, and Cp) decreased monotonously with both temperature and DP. Combined interpretation of these thermodynamic results and previously published structural data allowed assessment of an affinity profile along the length axis of the active tunnel. Forfattere: Francieli Colussi, Trine H. S?rensen, Kadri Alasepp, Jeppe Kari, Nicolaj Cruys-Bagger, Michael S. Windahl, Johan P. Olsen, Kim Borch and Peter Westh.