Molecular recognition in (+)-alpha-pinene oxidation by cytochrome P450cam

TLDR: The results show that the protein engineering of P450(cam) for high selectivity of substrate oxidation is more difficult than achieving high substrate turnover rates because of the subtle and dynamic nature of enzyme-substrate interactions.

Abstract: Oxygenated derivatives of the monoterpene (+)-α-pinene are found in plant essential oils and used as fragrances and flavorings. (+)-α-Pinene is structurally related to (+)-camphor, the natural substrate of the heme monooxygenase cytochrome P450cam from Pseudomonas putida. The aim of the present work was to apply the current understanding of P450 substrate binding and catalysis to engineer P450cam for the selective oxidation of (+)-α-pinene. Consideration of the structures of (+)-camphor and (+)-α-pinene lead to active-site mutants containing combinations of the Y96F, F87A, F87L, F87W, and V247L mutations. All mutants showed greatly enhanced binding and rate of oxidation of (+)-α-pinene. Some mutants had tighter (+)-α-pinene binding than camphor binding by the wild-type. The most active was the Y96F/V247L mutant, with a (+)-α-pinene oxidation rate of 270 nmol (nmol of P450cam)-1 min-1, which was 70% of the rate of camphor oxidation by wild-type P450cam. Camphor is oxidized by wild-type P450cam exclusively ...