Are cellulases slow? Kinetic and thermodynamic limitations for enzymatic breakdown of cellulose.

Cellulases are of paramount interest for upcoming biorefineries that utilize residue from agriculture and forestry to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals. Specifically, cellulases are used for the conversion of recalcitrant plant biomass to fermentable sugars in a so-called saccharification process. The vast literature on enzymatic saccharification frequently refers to low catalytic rates of cellulases as a main bottleneck for industrial implementation, but such statements are rarely supported by kinetic or thermodynamic considerations.

ITC analysis of polydisperse systems: Unravelling the impact of sample heterogeneity.

Binding interactions often involve heterogeneous samples displaying a distribution of binding sites that vary in affinity and binding enthalpy. Examples include biological samples like proteins and chemically produced samples like modified cyclodextrins. Experimental studies often ignore sample heterogeneity and treat the system as an interaction of two homogeneous species, i.

The Sabatier principle as a tool for discovery and engineering of industrial enzymes.

The recent breakthrough in all-atom, protein structure prediction opens new avenues for a range of computational approaches in enzyme design. These new approaches could become instrumental for the development of technical biocatalysts, and hence our transition toward more sustainable industries. Here, we discuss one approach, which is well-known within inorganic catalysis, but essentially unexploited in biotechnology.

Sabatier Principle for Rationalizing Enzymatic Hydrolysis of a Synthetic Polyester.

Interfacial enzyme reactions are common in Nature and in industrial settings, including the enzymatic deconstruction of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) waste. Kinetic descriptions of PET hydrolases are necessary for both comparative analyses, discussions of structure-function relations and rational optimization of technical processes. We investigated whether the Sabatier principle could be used for this purpose.

Physical constraints and functional plasticity of cellulases.

Enzyme reactions, both in Nature and technical applications, commonly occur at the interface of immiscible phases. Nevertheless, stringent descriptions of interfacial enzyme catalysis remain sparse, and this is partly due to a shortage of coherent experimental data to guide and assess such work. In this work, we produced and kinetically characterized 83 cellulases, which revealed a conspicuous linear free energy relationship (LFER) between the substrate binding strength and the activation barrier.

A comparative biochemical investigation of the impeding effect of C1-oxidizing LPMOs on cellobiohydrolases.

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are known to act synergistically with glycoside hydrolases in industrial cellulolytic cocktails. However, a few studies have reported severe impeding effects of C1-oxidizing LPMOs on the activity of reducing-end cellobiohydrolases. The mechanism for this effect remains unknown, but it may have important implications as reducing-end cellobiohydrolases make up a significant part of such cocktails.

Computing Cellulase Kinetics with a Two-Domain Linear Interaction Energy Approach.

While heterogeneous enzyme reactions play an essential role in both nature and green industries, computational predictions of their catalytic properties remain scarce. Recent experimental work demonstrated the applicability of the Sabatier principle for heterogeneous biocatalysis. This provides a simple relationship between binding strength and the catalytic rate and potentially opens a new way for inexpensive computational determination of kinetic parameters.

A steady-state approach for inhibition of heterogeneous enzyme reactions.

The kinetic theory of enzymes that modify insoluble substrates is still underdeveloped, despite the prevalence of this type of reaction both in vivo and industrial applications. Here, we present a steady-state kinetic approach to investigate inhibition occurring at the solid-liquid interface. We propose to conduct experiments under enzyme excess (E0 ≫ S0), i.

Substrate binding in the processive cellulase Cel7A: Transition state of complexation and roles of conserved tryptophan residues.

Cellobiohydrolases effectively degrade cellulose and are of biotechnological interest because they can convert lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars. Here, we implemented a fluorescence-based method for real-time measurements of complexation and decomplexation of the processive cellulase Cel7A and its insoluble substrate, cellulose. The method enabled detailed kinetic and thermodynamic analyses of ligand binding in a heterogeneous system.

pH profiles of cellulases depend on the substrate and architecture of the binding region.

Understanding the pH effect of cellulolytic enzymes is of great technological importance. In this study, we have examined the influence of pH on activity and stability for central cellulases (Cel7A, Cel7B, Cel6A from Trichoderma reesei, and Cel7A from Rasamsonia emersonii). We systematically changed pH from 2 to 7, temperature from 20°C to 70°C, and used both soluble (4-nitrophenyl β- d-lactopyranoside [pNPL]) and insoluble (Avicel) substrates at different concentrations.

A practical approach to steady-state kinetic analysis of cellulases acting on their natural insoluble substrate.

Measurement of steady-state rates (v) is straightforward in standard enzymology with soluble substrate, and it has been instrumental for comparative biochemical analyses within this area. For insoluble substrate, however, experimental values of v remain controversial, and this has strongly limited the amount and quality of comparative analyses for cellulases and other enzymes that act on the surface of an insoluble substrate. In the current work, we have measured progress curves over a wide range of conditions for two cellulases, TrCel6A and TrCel7A from Trichoderma reesei, acting on their natural, insoluble substrate, cellulose.

Systematic deletions in the cellobiohydrolase (CBH) Cel7A from the fungus reveal flexible loops critical for CBH activity.

Glycoside hydrolase family 7 (GH7) cellulases are some of the most efficient degraders of cellulose, making them particularly relevant for industries seeking to produce renewable fuels from lignocellulosic biomass. The secretome of the cellulolytic model fungus contains two GH7s, termed TrCel7A and TrCel7B. Despite having high structural and sequence similarities, the two enzymes are functionally quite different.

Rate-limiting step and substrate accessibility of cellobiohydrolase Cel6A from Trichoderma reesei.

The cellobiohydrolase (CBH) Cel6A is an important component of enzyme cocktails for industrial degradation of lignocellulosic biomass. However, the kinetics of this enzyme acting on its natural, insoluble substrate remains sparsely investigated. Here, we studied Cel6A from Trichoderma reesei with respect to adsorption, processivity, and kinetics both in the steady-state and pre-steady-state regimes, on microcrystalline and amorphous cellulose.

Correlation of structure, function and protein dynamics in GH7 cellobiohydrolases from , and .

Background: The ascomycete fungus is the predominant source of enzymes for industrial conversion of lignocellulose. Its glycoside hydrolase family 7 cellobiohydrolase (GH7 CBH) Cel7A constitutes nearly half of the enzyme cocktail by weight and is the major workhorse in the cellulose hydrolysis process. The orthologs from (Cel7A) and (Cel7A) show high sequence identity with Cel7A, ~ 80%, and represent naturally evolved combinations of cellulose-binding tunnel-enclosing loop motifs, which have been suggested to influence intrinsic cellobiohydrolase properties, such as endo-initiation, processivity, and off-rate.

Thermoactivation of a cellobiohydrolase.

We have measured activity and substrate affinity of the thermostable cellobiohydrolase, Cel7A, from Rasamsonia emersonii over a broad range of temperatures. For the wild type enzyme, which does not have a Carbohydrate Binding Module (CBM), higher temperature only led to moderately increased activity against cellulose, and we ascribed this to a pronounced, temperature induced desorption of enzyme from the substrate surface. We also tested a "high affinity" variant of R.

Michaelis-Menten equation for degradation of insoluble substrate.

Kinetic studies of homogeneous enzyme reactions where both the substrate and enzyme are soluble have been well described by the Michaelis-Menten (MM) equation for more than a century. However, many reactions are taking place at the interface of a solid substrate and enzyme in solution. Such heterogeneous reactions are abundant both in vivo and in industrial application of enzymes but it is not clear whether traditional enzyme kinetic theory developed for homogeneous catalysis can be applied.

Direct kinetic comparison of the two cellobiohydrolases Cel6A and Cel7A from Hypocrea jecorina.

Cellulose degrading fungi such as Hypocrea jecorina secrete several cellulases including the two cellobiohydrolases (CBHs) Cel6A and Cel7A. The two CBHs differ in catalytic mechanism, attack different ends, belong to different families, but are both processive multi-domain enzymes that are essential in the hydrolysis of cellulose. Here we present a direct kinetic comparison of these two enzymes acting on insoluble cellulose.

A quenched-flow system for measuring heterogeneous enzyme kinetics with sub-second time resolution.

Even though many enzyme processes occur at the interface of an insoluble substrate, these reactions are generally much less studied than homogenous enzyme reactions in the aqueous bulk. Interfacial (or heterogeneous) enzyme reactions involve several reaction steps, and the established experimental approach to elucidate multi-step reactions is transient (or pre steady-state) kinetics. A key requirement for pre steady-state measurements is good time resolution, and while this has been amply achieved in different commercial instruments, they are generally not applicable to precipitating suspensions of insoluble substrate.

Exo-exo synergy between Cel6A and Cel7A from Hypocrea jecorina: Role of carbohydrate binding module and the endo-lytic character of the enzymes.

Synergy between cellulolytic enzymes is essential in both natural and industrial breakdown of biomass. In addition to synergy between endo- and exo-lytic enzymes, a lesser known but equally conspicuous synergy occurs among exo-acting, processive cellobiohydrolases (CBHs) such as Cel7A and Cel6A from Hypocrea jecorina. We studied this system using microcrystalline cellulose as substrate and found a degree of synergy between 1.

Anomeric Selectivity and Product Profile of a Processive Cellulase.

Cellobiohydrolases (CBHs) make up an important group of enzymes for both natural carbon cycling and industrial deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass. The consecutive hydrolysis of one cellulose strand relies on an intricate pattern of enzyme-substrate interactions in the long, tunnel-shaped binding site of the CBH. In this work, we have investigated the initial complexation mode with cellulose of the most thoroughly studied CBH, Cel7A from Hypocrea jecorina (HjCel7A).

Inter-domain Synergism Is Required for Efficient Feeding of Cellulose Chain into Active Site of Cellobiohydrolase Cel7A.

Structural polysaccharides like cellulose and chitin are abundant and their enzymatic degradation to soluble sugars is an important route in green chemistry. Processive glycoside hydrolases (GHs), like cellobiohydrolase Cel7A of Trichoderma reesei (TrCel7A) are key components of efficient enzyme systems. TrCel7A consists of a catalytic domain (CD) and a smaller carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) connected through the glycosylated linker peptide.

Loop variants of the thermophile Rasamsonia emersonii Cel7A with improved activity against cellulose.

Cel7A cellobiohydrolases perform processive hydrolysis on one strand of cellulose, which is threaded through the enzyme's substrate binding tunnel. The tunnel structure results from a groove in the catalytic domain, which is covered by a number of loops. These loops have been identified as potential targets for engineering of this industrially important enzyme family, but only few systematic studies on this have been made.

Mechanism of product inhibition for cellobiohydrolase Cel7A during hydrolysis of insoluble cellulose.

The cellobiohydrolase cellulase Cel7A is extensively utilized in industrial treatment of lignocellulosic biomass under conditions of high product concentrations, and better understanding of inhibition mechanisms appears central in attempts to improve the efficiency of this process. We have implemented an electrochemical biosensor assay for product inhibition studies of cellulases acting on their natural substrate, cellulose. Using this method we measured the hydrolytic rate of Cel7A as a function of both product (inhibitor) concentration and substrate load.

Probing substrate interactions in the active tunnel of a catalytically deficient cellobiohydrolase (Cel7).

Cellobiohydrolases break down cellulose sequentially by sliding along the crystal surface with a single cellulose strand threaded through the catalytic tunnel of the enzyme. This so-called processive mechanism relies on a complex pattern of enzyme-substrate interactions, which need to be addressed in molecular descriptions of processivity and its driving forces. Here, we have used titration calorimetry to study interactions of cellooligosaccharides (COS) and a catalytically deficient variant (E212Q) of the enzyme Cel7A from Trichoderma reesei.