The Hypocrea jecorina Family 6 cellobiohydrolase (Cel6A) is one of most efficient enzymes for cellulose deconstruction to soluble sugars and is thus of significant current interest for the growing biofuels industry. Cel6A is known to hydrolyze �(1,4)-glycosidic linkages in cellulose via an inverting mechanism, but there are still questions that remain regarding the role of water and the catalytic base. Here we study the inverting, single displacement, hydrolytic reaction mechanism in Cel6A using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The computational model used to follow the reaction is a truncated active site model with several explicit waters based on structural studies of H. jecorina Cel6A. Proposed mechanisms are evaluated with several density functionals. From our calculations, the role of the water in nucleophilic attack on the anomeric carbon, and the roles of several residues in the active site loops are elucidated explicitly for the first time. We also apply quantum mechanical calculations to understand the proton transfer reaction which completes the catalytic cycle.

Theoretical study of the inverting mechanism in a processive cellobiohydrolase with quantum mechanical calculations

244th National Meeting (2012)

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