Devadasan Velmurugan

Publications (2)3.93 Total impact

• Article: Substrate specificity determinants of the methanogen homoaconitase enzyme: structure and function of the small subunit.

  Jeyaraman Jeyakanthan, Randy M Drevland, Dasara Raju Gayathri, Devadasan Velmurugan, Akeo Shinkai, Seiki Kuramitsu, Shigeyuki Yokoyama, David E Graham
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  ABSTRACT: The aconitase family of hydro-lyase enzymes includes three classes of proteins that catalyze the isomerization of alpha-hydroxy acids to beta-hydroxy acids. Besides aconitase, isopropylmalate isomerase (IPMI) proteins specifically catalyze the isomerization of alpha,beta-dicarboxylates with hydrophobic gamma-chain groups, and homoaconitase (HACN) proteins catalyze the isomerization of tricarboxylates with variable chain length gamma-carboxylate groups. These enzymes' stereospecific hydro-lyase activities make them attractive catalysts to produce diastereomers from unsaturated precursors. However, sequence similarity and convergent evolution among these proteins lead to widespread misannotation and uncertainty about gene function. To find the substrate specificity determinants of homologous IPMI and HACN proteins from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, the small-subunit HACN protein (MJ1271) was crystallized for X-ray diffraction. The structural model showed characteristic residues in a flexible loop region between alpha2 and alpha3 that distinguish HACN from IPMI and aconitase proteins. Site-directed mutagenesis of MJ1271 produced loop-region variant proteins that were reconstituted with wild-type MJ1003 large-subunit protein. The heteromers formed promiscuous hydro-lyases with reduced activity but broader substrate specificity. Both R26K and R26V variants formed relatively efficient IPMI enzymes, while the T27A variant had uniformly lower specificity constants for both IPMI and HACN substrates. The R26V T27Y variant resembles the MJ1277 IPMI small subunit in its flexible loop sequence but demonstrated the broad substrate specificity of the R26V variant. These mutations may reverse the evolution of HACN activity from an ancestral IPMI gene, demonstrating the evolutionary potential for promiscuity in hydro-lyase enzymes. Understanding these specificity determinants enables the functional reannotation of paralogous HACN and IPMI genes in numerous genome sequences. These structural and kinetic results will help to engineer new stereospecific hydro-lyase enzymes for chemoenzymatic syntheses.
  Biochemistry 02/2010; 49(12):2687-96. · 3.42 Impact Factor
• Article: New structural insights and molecular-modelling studies of 4-methyl-5-beta-hydroxyethylthiazole kinase from Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3 (PhThiK).

  Jeyaraman Jeyakanthan, Subbiah Thamotharan, Devadasan Velmurugan, Vaijayanthimala Surya Narayna Rao, Shanthi Nagarajan, Akeo Shinkai, Seiki Kuramitsu, Shigeyuki Yokoyama
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  ABSTRACT: 4-Methyl-5-beta-hydroxyethylthiazole kinase (ThiK) catalyses the phosphorylation of the hydroxyl group of 4-methyl-5-beta-hydroxyethylthiazole. This work reports the first crystal structure of an archaeal ThiK: that from Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3 (PhThiK) at 1.85 A resolution with a phosphate ion occupying the position of the beta-phosphate of the nucleotide. The topology of this enzyme shows the typical ribokinase fold of an alpha/beta protein. The overall structure of PhThiK is similar to those of Bacillus subtilis ThiK (BsThiK) and Enterococcus faecalis V583 ThiK (EfThiK). Sequence analysis of ThiK enzymes from various sources indicated that three-quarters of the residues involved in interfacial regions are conserved. It also revealed that the amino-acid residues in the nucleotide-binding, magnesium ion-binding and substrate-binding sites are conserved. Binding of the nucleotide and substrate to the ThiK enzyme do not influence the quaternary association (trimer) as revealed by the crystal structure of PhThiK.
  Acta Crystallographica Section F Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications 10/2009; 65(Pt 10):978-86. · 0.51 Impact Factor