Relative Binding Affinities of Monolignols to Horseradish Peroxidase

Monolignol binding to the peroxidase active site is the first step in lignin polymerization in plant cell walls. Using molecular dynamics, docking, and free energy perturbation calculations, we investigate the binding of monolignols to horseradish peroxidase C. Our results suggest that p-coumaryl alcohol has the strongest binding affinity followed by sinapyl and coniferyl alcohol. Stacking interactions between the monolignol aromatic rings and nearby phenylalanine residues play an important role in determining the calculated relative binding affinities. p-Coumaryl and coniferyl alcohols bind in a pose productive for reaction in which a direct H-bond is formed between the phenolic -OH group and a water molecule (W2) that may facilitate proton transfer during oxidation. In contrast, in the case of sinapyl alcohol there is no such direct interaction, the phenolic -OH group instead interacting with Pro139. Since proton and electron transfer is the rate-limiting step in monolignol oxidation by peroxidase, the binding pose (and thus the formation of near attack conformation) appears to play a more important role than the overall binding affinity in determining the oxidation rate.