Inactivation mechanism of N61S mutant of human FMO3 towards trimethylamine

May 22, 2018

Title

Inactivation mechanism of N61S mutant of human FMO3 towards trimethylamine

Author

Chongliang Gao, Gianluca Catucci, Silvia Castrignanò, Gianfranco Gilardi, Sheila J. Sadeghi

Year

2017

Journal

Scientific Reports

Abstract

Human flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (hFMO3) catalyses the oxygenation of a wide variety of compounds including drugs as well as dietary compounds. It is the major hepatic enzyme involved in the production of the N-oxide of trimethylamine (TMAO) and clinical studies have uncovered a striking correlation between plasma TMAO concentration and cardiovascular disease. Certain mutations within the hFMO3 gene cause defective trimethylamine (TMA) N-oxygenation leading to trimethylaminuria (TMAU) also known as fish-odour syndrome. In this paper, the inactivation mechanism of a TMAU-causing polymorphic variant, N61S, is investigated. Transient kinetic experiments show that this variant has a > 170-fold lower NADPH binding affinity than the wild type. Thermodynamic and spectroscopic experiments reveal that the poor NADP+ binding affinity accelerates the C4a-hydroperoxyFAD intermediate decay, responsible for an unfavourable oxygen transfer to the substrate. Steady-state kinetic experiments show significantly decreased N61S catalytic activity towards other substrates; methimazole, benzydamine and tamoxifen. The in vitro data are corroborated by in silico data where compared to the wild type enzyme, a hydrogen bond required for the stabilisation of the flavin intermediate is lacking. Taken together, the data presented reveal the molecular basis for the loss of function observed in N61S mutant.

Instrument

J-815

Keywords

Circular dichroism, Secondary structure, Thermal stability, Thermodynamics, Protein folding, Chemical stability, Biochemistry