Several mechanistic aspects of Aspartic Proteases' enzymatic reaction are currently highly controversial. There is general consensus that the first step of the reaction involves a nucleophilic attack of a water molecule to the substrate carbonyl carbon with subsequent formation of a metastable intermediate (INT). However, the exact nature of this intermediate is subject of debate. While ab initio and QM/MM calculations predict that INT is a neutral gem-diol specie, empirical valence bond calculations suggest that the protein frame can stabilize a charged oxyanion intermediate. Here the relative stability of the gem diol and oxyanion intermediate is calculated by performing density functional and post-Hartree-Fock calculations. The robustness of the results is assessed by increasing the size of the system and of the basis set and by performing QM/MM calculations that explicitly include protein/solvent electrostatic effects. Our results suggest that the neutral gem-diol intermediate is 20-30 kcal/mol more stable than the charged oxyanion. It is therefore concluded that only the neutral specie is populated during the enzymatic reaction. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
On the nature of the reaction intermediate in the HIV-1 protease: a quantum chemical study
2008
Abstract
Several mechanistic aspects of Aspartic Proteases' enzymatic reaction are currently highly controversial. There is general consensus that the first step of the reaction involves a nucleophilic attack of a water molecule to the substrate carbonyl carbon with subsequent formation of a metastable intermediate (INT). However, the exact nature of this intermediate is subject of debate. While ab initio and QM/MM calculations predict that INT is a neutral gem-diol specie, empirical valence bond calculations suggest that the protein frame can stabilize a charged oxyanion intermediate. Here the relative stability of the gem diol and oxyanion intermediate is calculated by performing density functional and post-Hartree-Fock calculations. The robustness of the results is assessed by increasing the size of the system and of the basis set and by performing QM/MM calculations that explicitly include protein/solvent electrostatic effects. Our results suggest that the neutral gem-diol intermediate is 20-30 kcal/mol more stable than the charged oxyanion. It is therefore concluded that only the neutral specie is populated during the enzymatic reaction. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
