Structure of an acetylating aldehyde dehydrogenase from the thermophilic ethanologen Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius

Jonathan Extance, Michael J Danson, Susan J Crennell

OAI: oai:purehost.bath.ac.uk:openaire_cris_publications/9f9c84fb-88bd-4e40-9878-cc59a01816c2 • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pro.3027

Acetylating aldehyde dehydrogenases (AcAldDH) catalyse the acetylation of Coenzyme-A (CoA), or in reverse generate acetaldehyde from Acetyl-CoA using NADH as a co-factor. This paper reports the expression, purification, enzyme assay and X-ray crystal structures of an AcAldDH from Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius (GtAcAldDH) to 2.1Å and in complex with CoA and NAD(+) to 4.0Å. In the structure, the AcAldDH forms a close-knit dimer, similar to that seen in other Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) structures. In GtAcAldDH these dimers associate via their N-termini to form weakly-interacting tetramers. This mode of tetrameric association is also seen in an unpublished AcAldDH deposited in the PDB, but is in contrast to all other ADH structures, (including the one other published AcAldDH found in a bacterial microcompartment), in which the dimers bury a large surface area including the C-termini. This novel mode of association sequesters the active sites and potentially-reactive acyl-enzyme intermediates in the centre of the tetramer. In other respects the structure is very similar to the other AcAldDH, binding the cofactors in a corresponding fashion. This similarity enabled the identification of a shortened substrate cavity in G. thermoglucosidasius AcAldDH, explaining the limitations on the length of substrate accepted by the enzyme. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.