Mapping the Accessible Conformational Landscape of an Insect Carboxylesterase Using Conformational Ensemble Analysis and Kinetic Crystallography.

The proper function of enzymes often depends upon their efficient interconversion between particular conformational sub-states on a free-energy landscape. Experimentally characterizing these sub-states is challenging, which has limited our understanding of the role of protein dynamics in many enzymes. Here, we have used a combination of kinetic crystallography and detailed analysis of crystallographic protein ensembles to map the accessible conformational landscape of an insect carboxylesterase (LcαE7) as it traverses all steps in its catalytic cycle.

Conformational Disorganization within the Active Site of a Recently Evolved Organophosphate Hydrolase Limits Its Catalytic Efficiency.

The evolution of new enzymatic activity is rarely observed outside of the laboratory. In the agricultural pest Lucilia cuprina, a naturally occurring mutation (Gly137Asp) in α-esterase 7 (LcαE7) results in acquisition of organophosphate hydrolase activity and confers resistance to organophosphate insecticides. Here, we present an X-ray crystal structure of LcαE7:Gly137Asp that, along with kinetic data, suggests that Asp137 acts as a general base in the new catalytic mechanism.

Structure and function of an insect α-carboxylesterase (αEsterase7) associated with insecticide resistance.

Insect carboxylesterases from the αEsterase gene cluster, such as αE7 (also known as E3) from the Australian sheep blowfly Lucilia cuprina (LcαE7), play an important physiological role in lipid metabolism and are implicated in the detoxification of organophosphate (OP) insecticides. Despite the importance of OPs to agriculture and the spread of insect-borne diseases, the molecular basis for the ability of α-carboxylesterases to confer OP resistance to insects is poorly understood. In this work, we used laboratory evolution to increase the thermal stability of LcαE7, allowing its overexpression in Escherichia coli and structure determination.