The effect of replacing the conserved active-site residues His-264, Asp-312 and Arg-314 on the binding and catalytic properties of Escherichia coli citrate synthase.

The first step in the overall catalytic mechanism of citrate synthase is the binding and polarization of oxaloacetate. Active-site residues Arg-314, Asp-312 and His-264 in Escherichia coli citrate synthase, which are involved in oxaloacetate binding, were converted by site-directed mutagenesis to Gln-314, Asn-312 and Asn-264 respectively. The R314Q and D312N mutants expressed negligible overall catalytic activity at pH 8.0, the normal assay pH, but substantial activities for the partial reactions that reflect the cleavage and hydrolysis of the substrate intermediate citryl-CoA. However, when the pH was lowered to 7.0, the overall reaction of the mutants became significant, in contrast to the wild-type enzyme, whereas the two mutants exhibited reduced activities for the partial reactions. This result is consistent with the existence of a rate-limiting step between the two partial reactions for these mutants that is pH-dependent. The Km for oxaloacetate for the two mutants was increased 10-fold and was paralleled by an increase in the Km for citryl-CoA, whereas the Km for acetyl-CoA was increased only 2-fold. Overall, there was a striking parallel between the results obtained for these two mutants, which suggests that they are functionally linked in the E. coli enzyme. The equivalent of these two residues form a salt bridge in the pig heart citrate synthase crystal structure. The H264N mutant, in which the amide nitrogen of asparagine should mimic the delta-nitrogen of histidine, showed negligible activity in terms of both overall and partial catalysis, which may result from a hindrance of conformational change upon oxaloacetate binding. The affinity of this mutant for oxaloacetate appeared to be greatly reduced when investigated using indirect fluorescence and chemical modification techniques.