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Pasteurella multocida CMP-sialic acid synthetase and mutants of Neisseria meningitidis CMP-sialic acid synthetase with improved substrate promiscuity

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Abstract

Cytidine 5′-monophosphate (CMP)-sialic acid synthetases (CSSs) catalyze the formation of CMP-sialic acid from CTP and sialic acid, a key step for sialyltransferase-catalyzed biosynthesis of sialic acid-containing oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates. More than 50 different sialic acid forms have been identified in nature. To facilitate the enzymatic synthesis of sialosides with diverse naturally occurring sialic acid forms and their non-natural derivatives, CMP-sialic acid synthetases with promiscuous substrate specificity are needed. Herein we report the cloning, characterization, and substrate specificity studies of a new CSS from Pasteurella multocida strain P-1059 (PmCSS) and a CSS from Haemophillus ducreyi (HdCSS). Based on protein sequence alignment and substrate specificity studies of these two CSSs and a Neisseria meningitidis CSS (NmCSS), as well as crystal structure modeling and analysis of NmCSS, NmCSS mutants (NmCSS_S81R and NmCSS_Q163A) with improved substrate promiscuity were generated. The strategy of combining substrate specificity studies of enzymes from different sources and protein crystal structure studies can be a general approach for designing enzyme mutants with improved activity and substrate promiscuity.

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Acknowledgments

This work was support by NIH grants R01GM076360 and R01HD065122, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholarship, and the UC-Davis Chancellor’s Fellowship.

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  1. Saddam Muthana

    Present address: Chemical Biology Laboratory, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, National Institutes of Health, 376 Boyles St, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of California-Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Yanhong Li, Hai Yu, Hongzhi Cao, Saddam Muthana & Xi Chen

  2. National Glycoengineering Research Center, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China

    Hongzhi Cao

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  1. Yanhong Li
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  2. Hai Yu
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Correspondence to Xi Chen.

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Li, Y., Yu, H., Cao, H. et al. Pasteurella multocida CMP-sialic acid synthetase and mutants of Neisseria meningitidis CMP-sialic acid synthetase with improved substrate promiscuity. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 93, 2411–2423 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-011-3579-6

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