The Activating Oxydianion Binding Domain for Enzyme-Catalyzed Proton Transfer, Hydride Transfer, and Decarboxylation: Specificity and Enzyme Architecture

[Image: see text] The kinetic parameters for activation of yeast triosephosphate isomerase (ScTIM), yeast orotidine monophosphate decarboxylase (ScOMPDC), and human liver glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (hlGPDH) for catalysis of reactions of their respective phosphodianion truncated substrates are reported for the following oxydianions: HPO(3)(2–), FPO(3)(2–), S(2)O(3)(2–), SO(4)(2–) and HOPO(3)(2–). Oxydianions bind weakly to these unliganded enzymes and tightly to the transition state complex (E·S(‡)), with intrinsic oxydianion Gibbs binding free energies that range from −8.4 kcal/mol for activation of hlGPDH-catalyzed reduction of glycolaldehyde by FPO(3)(2–) to −3.0 kcal/mol for activation of ScOMPDC-catalyzed decarboxylation of 1-β-d-erythrofuranosyl)orotic acid by HOPO(3)(2–). Small differences in the specificity of the different oxydianion binding domains are observed. We propose that the large −8.4 kcal/mol and small −3.8 kcal/mol intrinsic oxydianion binding energy for activation of hlGPDH by FPO(3)(2–) and S(2)O(3)(2–), respectively, compared with activation of ScTIM and ScOMPDC reflect stabilizing and destabilizing interactions between the oxydianion −F and −S with the cationic side chain of R269 for hlGPDH. These results are consistent with a cryptic function for the similarly structured oxydianion binding domains of ScTIM, ScOMPDC and hlGPDH. Each enzyme utilizes the interactions with tetrahedral inorganic oxydianions to drive a conformational change that locks the substrate in a caged Michaelis complex that provides optimal stabilization of the different enzymatic transition states. The observation of dianion activation by stabilization of active caged Michaelis complexes may be generalized to the many other enzymes that utilize substrate binding energy to drive changes in enzyme conformation, which induce tight substrate fits.