Role of Asp102 in the catalytic relay system of serine proteases: a theoretical study

The role of Asp102 in the catalytic relay system of serine proteases is studied theoretically by calculating the free energy profiles of the single proton-transfer reaction by the Asn102 mutant trypsin and the concerted double proton-transfer reaction (so-called the charge-relay mechanism) of the wild-type trypsin. For each reaction, the reaction free energy profile of the rate-determining step (the tetrahedral intermediate formation step) is calculated by using ab initio QM/MM electronic structure calculations combined with molecular dynamics-free energy perturbation method. In the mutant reaction, the free energy monotonically increases along the reaction path. The rate-determining step of the mutant reaction is the formation of tetrahedral intermediate complex, not the base (His57) abstraction of the proton from Ser195. In contrast to the single proton-transfer reaction of the wild-type, MD simulations of the enzyme-substrate complex show that the catalytically favorable alignment of the relay system (the hydrogen bonding network between the mutant triad, His57, Asn102, and Ser195) is rarely observed even in the presence of a substrate at the active site. In the double proton-transfer reaction, the energy barrier is observed at the proton abstraction step, which corresponds to the rate-determining step of the single proton-transfer reaction of the wild-type. Although both reaction profiles show an increase of the activation barrier by several kcals/mol, these increases have different energetic origins: a large energetic loss of the electrostatic stabilization between His57 and Asn102 in the mutant reaction, while the lack of stabilization by the protein environment in the double proton-transfer reaction. Comparing the present results with the single proton transfer of the wild-type, Asp102 is proven to play two important roles in the catalytic process. One is to stabilize the protonated His57, or ionic intermediate, formed during the acylation, and the other is to fix the configuration around the active site, which is favorable to promote the catalytic process. These two factors are closely related to each other and are indispensable for the efficient catalysis. Also the present calculations suggest the importance of the remote site interaction between His57 and Val213-Ser214 at the catalytic transition state.