In silico modelling of the function of disease-related CAZymes

In silico modelling of proteins comprises a diversity of computational tools aimed to obtain structural, electronic, and/or dynamic information about these biomolecules, capturing mechanistic details that are challenging to experimental approaches, such as elusive enzyme-substrate complexes, short-lived intermediates, and reaction transition states (TS). The present article gives the reader insight on the use of in silico modelling techniques to understand complex catalytic reaction mechanisms of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), along with the underlying theory and concepts that are important in this field. We start by introducing the significance of carbohydrates in nature and the enzymes that process them, CAZymes, highlighting the conformational flexibility of their carbohydrate substrates. Three commonly used in silico methods (classical molecular dynamics (MD), hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM), and enhanced sampling techniques) are described for nonexpert readers. Finally, we provide three examples of the application of these methods to unravel the catalytic mechanisms of three disease-related CAZymes: β-galactocerebrosidase (GALC), responsible for Krabbe disease; α-mannoside β-1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (MGAT5), involved in cancer; and O-fucosyltransferase 1 (POFUT1), involved in several human diseases such as leukemia and the Dowling–Degos disease.