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Crystal structures of the cadmium‐ and mercury‐substituted metallo‐β‐lactamase from Bacteroides fragilis
Author(s) -
Concha Nestor O.,
Herzberg Osnat,
Rasmussen Beth A.,
Bush Karen
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
protein science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.353
H-Index - 175
eISSN - 1469-896X
pISSN - 0961-8368
DOI - 10.1002/pro.5560061225
Subject(s) - zinc , chemistry , active site , stereochemistry , crystallography , cadmium , crystal structure , enzyme , binding site , ionic radius , inorganic chemistry , ion , organic chemistry , biochemistry
The metallo‐β‐lactamases require zinc or cadmium for hydrolyzing β‐lactam antibiotics and are inhibited by mercurial compounds. To date, there are no clinically useful inhibitors of this class of enzymes. The crystal structure of the Zn 2+ ‐bound enzyme from Bacteroides fragilis contains a binuclear zinc center in the active site. A hydroxide, coordinated to both zinc atoms, is proposed as the moiety that mounts the nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl carbon atom of the β‐lactam ring. To study the metal coordination further, the crystal structures of a Cd 2+ ‐bound enzyme and of an Hg 2+ ‐soaked zinc‐containing enzyme have been determined at 2.I Å and 2.7 Å, respectively. Given the diffraction resolution, the Cd 2+ ‐bound enzyme exhibits the same active‐site architecture as that of the Zn 2+ ‐bound enzyme, consistent with the fact that both forms are enzymatically active. The 10‐fold reduction in activity of the Cd 2+ ‐bound molecule compared with the Zn 2+ ‐bound enzyme is attributed to fine differences in the charge distribution due to the difference in the ionic radii of the two metals. In contrast, in the Hg 2+ ‐bound structure, one of the zinc ions, Zn2, was ejected, and the other zinc ion, Zn1, remained in the same site as in the 2‐Zn 2+ ‐bound structure. Instead of the ejected zinc, a mercury ion binds between Cys 104 and Cys 181, 4.8 Å away from Zn1 and 3.9 Å away from the site where Zn2 is located in the 2‐Zn 2+ ‐bound molecule. The perturbed binuclear metal cluster explains the inactivation of the enzyme by mercury compounds.