GDP-mannose hydrolase catalyzes the hydrolysis with inversion o
f GDP-
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/alpha.gi
f" BORDER=0>-
D-hexose to GDPand
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/beta2.gi
f" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-
D-hexose by nucleophilic substitution by water at C1 o
f the sugar. Two new crystal structures (
freeenzyme and enzyme-substrate complex), NMR, and site-directed mutagenesis data, combined with thestructure o
f the enzyme-product complex reported earlier, suggest a
four-stage catalytic cycle. An importantloop (L6, residues 119-125) contains a ligand to the essential Mg
2+ (Gln-123), the catalytic base (His-124), and three anionic residues. This loop is not ordered in the X-ray structure o
f the
free enzyme dueto dynamic disorder, as indicated by the two-dimensional
1H-
15N HMQC spectrum, which shows selectiveexchange broadening o
f the imidazole nitrogen resonances o
f His-124 (
kex = 6.6 × 10
4 s
-1). The structureo
f the enzyme-Mg
2+-GDP-mannose substrate complex o
f the less active Y103F mutant shows loop L6in an open con
formation, while the structure o
f the enzyme-Mg
2+-GDP product complex showed loopL6 in a closed, "active" con
formation.
1H-
15N HMQC spectra show the imidazole N
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/epsilon.gi
f" BORDER=0 > o
f His-124 to beunprotonated, appropriate
for general base catalysis. Substituting Mg
2+ with the more electrophilic metalions Mn
2+ or Co
2+ decreases the p
Ka in the pH versus
kcat rate pro
files, showing that deprotonation o
f ametal-bound water is partially rate-limiting. The H124Q mutation, which decreases
kcat 10
3.4-
fold andlargely abolishes its pH dependence, is rescued by the Y103F mutation, which increases
kcat 23-
fold andrestores its pH dependence. The structural basis o
f the rescue is the
fact that the Y103F mutation shi
ftsthe con
formational equilibrium to the open
form moving loop L6 out o
f the active site, thus permittingdirect access o
f the speci
fic base hydroxide
from the solvent. In the proposed dissociative transition state,which occurs in the closed, active con
formation o
f the enzyme, the partial negative charge o
f the GDPleaving group is compensated by the Mg
2+, and by the closing o
f loop L2 that brings Arg-37 closer to the
![](/images/gi<font color=)
fchars/beta2.gi
f" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle">-phosphate. The development o
f a positive charge at mannosyl C1, as the oxocarbenium-like transitionstate is approached, is compensated by closing the anionic loop, L6, onto the active site,
further stabilizingthe transition state.