Title
Mechanisms of enhanced catalysis in enzyme-DNA nanostructures revealed through molecular simulations and experimental analysis
Author
Yingning Gao, Christopher C. Roberts, Aaron Toop, Chia-en A. Chang, Ian Wheeldon
Year
2016
Journal
A European Journal of Chemical Biology
Abstract
Understanding and controlling the molecular interactions between enzyme substrates and DNA nanostructures has important implications in the advancement of enzyme-DNA technologies as solutions in biocatalysis. Such hybrid nanostructures can be used to create enzyme systems with enhanced catalysis by controlling the local chemical and physical environments and the spatial organization of enzymes. Here, we use molecular simulations with corresponding experiments to describe a mechanism of enhanced catalysis due to locally increased substrate concentrations. With a series of DNA nanostructures conjugated to horseradish peroxidase, we show that binding interactions between substrates and the DNA structures can increase local substrate concentrations. Increased local substrate concentrations in HRP(DNA) nanostructures resulted 2.9- and 2.4-fold decreases in the apparent Michaelis constants of tetramethylbensidine and 4-aminophenol, substrates of HRP with tunable binding interactions to DNA nanostructures with dissociation constants in the micromolar range. Molecular simulations and kinetic analysis also revealed that increased local substrate concentrations enhanced the rate of substrate association. Identification of the mechanism of increased local concentration of substrates in close proximity to enzymes and their active sites adds to our understanding of nanostructured biocatalysis from which we can develop guidelines for enhancing catalysis in rationally designed systems.
Instrument
J-815
Keywords
Circular dichroism, DNA structure, Ligand binding, Nanostructures, Biochemistry, Materials