Rd. Chen et al., A HIGHLY-ACTIVE DECARBOXYLATING DEHYDROGENASE WITH RATIONALLY INVERTED COENZYME SPECIFICITY, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 92(25), 1995, pp. 11666-11670
The isocitrate dehydrogenase of Escherichia coli, which lacks the Ross
mann fold common to other dehydrogenases, displays a 7000-fold prefere
nce for NADP over NAD (calculated as the ratio of k(cat)/K-m). Guided
by x-ray crystal structures and molecular modeling, site-directed muta
genesis has been used to introduce six substitutions in the adenosine
binding pocket that systematically shift coenzyme preference toward NA
D, The engineered enzyme displays an 850-fold preference for NAD over
NADP, which exceeds the 140-fold preference displayed by a homologous
NAD-dependent enzyme, Of the six mutations introduced, only one is ide
ntical in all related NAD-dependent enzyme sequences-strict adherence
to homology as a criterion for replacing these amino acids impairs fun
ction, Two additional mutations at remote sites improve performance fu
rther, resulting in a final mutant enzyme with kinetic characteristics
and coenzyme preference comparable to naturally occurring homologous
NAD-dependent enzymes.