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Abstract: Gaucher disease (GD) is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by inherited deficiencies in β-glucocerebrosidase (GBA). Current treatments require rapid disease diagnosis and a means of monitoring therapeutic efficacy, both of which may be supported by the use of GBA-targeting activity-based probes (ABPs). Here, we report the synthesis and structural analysis of a range of cyclophellitol epoxide and aziridine inhibitors and ABPs for GBA. We demonstrate their covalent mechanism-based mode of action and uncover binding of the new N- functionalised aziridines to the ligand binding cleft. These inhibitors became scaffolds for the development of ABPs; the O6-fluorescent tags of which bind in an allosteric site at the dimer interface. Considering GBA’s preference for O6- and N -functionalised reagents, we synthesised a bi-functional aziridine ABP which we hoped would offer a more powerful imaging agent. Whilst this ABP binds to two unique active site clefts of GBA, no further benefit in potency was achieved over our first generation ABPs. Nevertheless, such ABPs should serve useful in the study of GBA in relation to GD and inform the design of future probes.

Open Access

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Abstract: Glycosidase inhibitors have shown great potential as pharmacological chaperones for lysosomal storage diseases. In light of this, a series of new cyclopentanoid β-galactosidase inhibitors were prepared and their inhibitory and pharmacological chaperoning activities determined and compared with those of lipophilic analogs of the potent β-d-galactosidase inhibitor 4-epi-isofagomine. Structure-activity relationships were investigated by X-ray crystallography as well as by alterations in the cyclopentane moiety such as deoxygenation and replacement by fluorine of a “strategic” hydroxyl group. New compounds have revealed highly promising activities with a range of β-galactosidase-compromised human cell lines and may serve as leads towards new pharmacological chaperones for GM1-gangliosidosis and Morquio B disease.

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Abstract: Alternatives to petroleum-based chemicals are highly sought-after for on-going efforts to reduce the damaging effects of human activity on the environment. Copper radical oxidases from Auxiliary Activity Family 5/Subfamily 2 (AA5_2) are attractive biocatalysts because they oxidize primary alcohols in a chemo-selective manner without complex organic cofactors. However, despite numerous studies on canonical galactose oxidases (GalOx, EC 1.1.3.9) and engineered variants, and the recent discovery of a Colletotrichum graminicola copper radical alcohol oxidase (AlcOx, EC 1.1.3.13), the catalytic potentials of very few AA5_2 members have been characterized. Guided by sequence similarity network and phylogenetic analyses, in this study we targeted a distinct paralog from the fungus C. graminicola as a representative member of a large uncharacterized subgroup of AA5_2. Through recombinant production and detailed kinetic analysis, we demonstrated that this enzyme is weakly active towards carbohydrates, but efficiently catalyzes the oxidation of aryl alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes. As such, this represents the initial characterization of a demonstrable aryl alcohol oxidase (AAO, EC 1.1.3.7) in AA5, an activity which is classically associated with flavin-dependent glucose-methanol-choline (GMC) oxidoreductases of Auxiliary Activity Family 3 (AA3). X-ray crystallography revealed a distinct multidomain architecture comprising an N-terminal PAN domain abutting a canonical AA5 seven-bladed propeller catalytic domain. Of direct relevance to biomass processing, the wild-type enzyme exhibits the highest activity on the primary alcohol of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a product of significant interest in the lignocellulosic bio-refinery concept. Thus, the chemoselective oxidation of HMF to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) by C. graminicola aryl alcohol oxidase (CgrAAO) from AA5 provides a fundamental building block for chemistry via biotechnology.

Open Access

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Abstract: Xyloglucan (XyG) is a complex polysaccharide that is ubiquitous and often abundant in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. XyG metabolism is therefore a key component of the global carbon cycle, and hence XyG enzymology is of significant fundamental and applied importance in biomass conversion. To facilitate structure–function analyses of XyG-specific endo-glucanases, we have synthesized a 2′,4′-dinitrophenyl 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-β-glycoside mechanism-based inhibitor based on the highly branched XyG repeating motif XXXG (Xyl3Glc4: ([α-D-Xylp-(1→6)]-β-D-Glcp-(1→4)-[α-D-Xylp-(1→6)]-β-D-Glcp-(1→4)-[α-D-Xylp-(1→6)]-β-D-Glcp-(1→4)-D-Glcp. Key steps in the chemo-enzymatic synthesis included selective enzyme hydrolysis of XyG polysaccharide to produce the core heptasaccharide, per-O-acetylation, α-bromination, reductive glycal formation, electrophilic fluorination, SNAr glycosylation, and Zemplen deprotection. The resulting compound, XXXG(2F)-β-DNP, specifically labelled the active sites of several endo-(xylo)glucanases by accumulation of a covalent glycosyl-enzyme intermediate, as revealed by intact protein mass spectrometry. Crystallography of a complex with a Cellvibrio japonicus Glycoside Hydrolase Family 5 (GH5) endo-xyloglucanase corroborated the covalent nature of the intermediate, and further revealed the anticipated specificity for the catalytic nucleophile of this anomeric-configuration-retaining glycosidase. This specificity complements that of an analogous XXXG N-bromoacetylglycosylamine inhibitor, which labelled the catalytic acid–base sidechain in the same enzyme [Attia, et al., Biotechnol. Biofuels, 2018, 11, 45]. We anticipate that these inhibitors may find continued use in mechanistic analyses of endo-(xylo)glucanases from diverse GH families.

Open Access

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Abstract: Background: Xyloglucan (XyG) is a ubiquitous and fundamental polysaccharide of plant cell walls. Due to its structural complexity, XyG requires a combination of backbone-cleaving and sidechain-debranching enzymes for complete deconstruction into its component monosaccharides. The soil saprophyte Cellvibrio japonicus has emerged as a genetically tractable model system to study biomass saccharification, in part due to its innate capacity to utilize a wide range of plant polysaccharides for growth. Whereas the downstream debranching enzymes of the xyloglucan utilization system of C. japonicus have been functionally characterized, the requisite backbone-cleaving endo-xyloglucanases were unresolved. Results: Combined bioinformatic and transcriptomic analyses implicated three glycoside hydrolase family 5 subfamily 4 (GH5_4) members, with distinct modular organization, as potential keystone endo-xyloglucanases in C. japonicus. Detailed biochemical and enzymatic characterization of the GH5_4 modules of all three recombinant proteins confirmed particularly high specificities for the XyG polysaccharide versus a panel of other cell wall glycans, including mixed-linkage beta-glucan and cellulose. Moreover, product analysis demonstrated that all three enzymes generated XyG oligosaccharides required for subsequent saccharification by known exo-glycosidases. Crystallographic analysis of GH5D, which was the only GH5_4 member specifically and highly upregulated during growth on XyG, in free, product-complex, and active-site affinity-labelled forms revealed the molecular basis for the exquisite XyG specificity among these GH5_4 enzymes. Strikingly, exhaustive reverse-genetic analysis of all three GH5_4 members and a previously biochemically characterized GH74 member failed to reveal a growth defect, thereby indicating functional compensation in vivo, both among members of this cohort and by other, yet unidentified, xyloglucanases in C. japonicus. Our systems-based analysis indicates distinct substrate-sensing (GH74, GH5E, GH5F) and attack-mounting (GH5D) functions for the endo-xyloglucanases characterized here. Conclusions: Through a multi-faceted, molecular systems-based approach, this study provides a new insight into the saccharification pathway of xyloglucan utilization system of C. japonicus. The detailed structural–functional characterization of three distinct GH5_4 endo-xyloglucanases will inform future bioinformatic predictions across species, and provides new CAZymes with defined specificity that may be harnessed in industrial and other biotechnological applications.