Protein Engineering, Vol. 15, No. 1, 35-41,
January 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press
An absolute requirement of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate for the Lactobacillus casei L-lactate dehydrogenase activity induced by a single amino acid substitution
1 Department of Applied Biological Science, Science University of Tokyo, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba 278-8510, 2 Department of Biotechnology, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657 and 3 Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Aomori University, Aomori 030-0943, Japan
Lactobacillus casei allosteric L-lactate dehydrogenase (L-LDH) absolutely requires fructose 1,6-bisphosphate [Fru(1,6)P2] for its catalytic activity under neutral conditions, but exhibits marked catalytic activity in the absence of Fru(1,6)P2 under acidic conditions through the homotropic activation effect of substrate pyruvate. In this enzyme, a single amino acid replacement, i.e. that of His205 conserved in the Fru(1,6)P2-binding site of certain allosteric L-LDHs of lactic acid bacteria with Thr, did not induce a marked loss of the activation effect of Fru(1,6)P2 or divalent metal ions, which are potent activators that improve the activation function of Fru(1,6)P2 under neutral conditions. However, this replacement induced a great loss of the Fru(1,6)P2-independent activation effect of pyruvate or pyruvate analogs under acidic conditions, consequently indicating an absolute Fru(1,6)P2 requirement for the enzyme activity. The replacement also induced a significant reduction in the pH-dependent sensitivity of the enzyme to Fru(1,6)P2, through a slight decrease and increase of the Fru(1,6)P2 sensitivity under acidic and neutral conditions, respectively, indicating that His205 is also largely involved in the pH-dependent sensitivity of L.casei L-LDH to Fru(1,6)P2. The role of His205 in the allosteric regulation of the enzyme is discussed on the basis of the known crystal structures of L-LDHs.