The role of amino acid residues in the active site of L-methionine γ-lyase from Pseudomonas putida

Cys116, Lys240^*, and Asp241^* (asterisks indicate residues from the second subunit of the active dimer) at the active site of L-methionine γ-lyase of Pseudomonas putida (MGL-Pp) are highly conserved among heterologous MGLs. In a previous study, we found that substitution of Cys116 for His led to a drastic increase in activity toward L-cysteine and a decrease in that toward L-methionine. In this study, we examined some properties of the C116H mutant by kinetic analysis and 3D structural analysis. We assumed that substitution of Cys116 for His broke the original hydrogen-bond network and that this induced a significant effect of Tyr114 as a general acid catalyst, possibly due to the narrow space in the active site. The C116H mutant acquired a novel β-elimination activity and lead a drastic conformation change in the histidine residue at position 116 by binding the substrate, suggesting that this His residue affects the reaction specificity of C116H. Furthermore, we suggest that Lys240^* is important for substrate recognition and structural stability and that Asp241^* is also involved in substrate specificity in the elimination reaction. Based on this, we suggest that the hydrogen-bond network among Cys116, Lys240^*, and Asp241^* contributes to substrate specificity that is, to L-methionine recognition at the active site in MGL-Pp.