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Discovery of Selective Small‐Molecule Activators of a Bacterial Glycoside Hydrolase
Author(s) -
Darby John F.,
Landström Jens,
Roth Christian,
He Yuan,
Davies Gideon J.,
Hubbard Roderick E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201407081
Subject(s) - hydrolase , chemistry , enzyme , glycoside hydrolase , stereochemistry , small molecule , activator (genetics) , active site , ligand (biochemistry) , combinatorial chemistry , enzyme kinetics , enzyme activator , enzyme catalysis , biochemistry , receptor
Fragment‐based approaches are used routinely to discover enzyme inhibitors as cellular tools and potential therapeutic agents. There have been few reports, however, of the discovery of small‐molecule enzyme activators. Herein, we describe the discovery and characterization of small‐molecule activators of a glycoside hydrolase (a bacterial O‐GlcNAc hydrolase). A ligand‐observed NMR screen of a library of commercially available fragments identified an enzyme activator which yielded an approximate 90 % increase in k cat / K M values ( k cat =catalytic rate constant; K M =Michaelis constant). This compound binds to the enzyme in close proximity to the catalytic center. Evolution of the initial hits led to improved compounds that behave as nonessential activators effecting both K M and V max values ( V max =maximum rate of reaction). The compounds appear to stabilize an active “closed” form of the enzyme. Such activators could offer an orthogonal alternative to enzyme inhibitors for perturbation of enzyme activity in vivo, and could also be used for glycoside hydrolase activation in many industrial processes.