Silvia Wallner

Enzymes are usually stereospecific against chiral substrates, which is commonly accepted for the amine oxidase family of enzymes as well. However, the FsqB (fumisoquin biosynthesis gene B) enzyme that belongs to the family of sarcosine oxidase and oxidizes L‐ N ‐methyl‐amino acids, shows surprising activity for both enantiomers of N ‐methyl‐dopa. The aim of this study is to understand the mechanism behind this behavior. Primary docking experiments showed that tyrosine and aspartate residues (121 and 315 respectively) are located on the ceiling of the active site of FsqB and may play a role in fixing the N ‐methyl‐dopa via its catechol moiety and allowing both stereoisomers of this substrate to be in close proximity of the N5 atom of the isoalloxazine ring of the cofactor. Three experimental approaches were used to prove this hypothesis which are: (1) studying the oxidative ability of the variants Y121F and D315A on N ‐methyl‐dopa substrates in comparison with N ‐methyl‐tyrosine substrates; (2) studying the FsqB WT and variants catalyzed biotransformation via high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); (3) molecular dynamics simulations to characterize the underlying mechanisms of the molecular recognition. First, we found that the chemical characteristics of the catechol moiety of N ‐methyl‐dopa are important to explain the differences between N ‐methyl‐dopa and N ‐methyl‐tyrosine. Furthermore, we found that Y121 and D315 are specific in FsqB and not found in the model enzyme sarcosine oxidase. The on‐bench and theoretical mutagenesis studies show that Y121 residue has a major role in fixing the N ‐methyl‐dopa substrates close to the N5 atom of the isoalloxazine ring of the cofactor. Simultaneously, D315 has a supportive role in this mechanism. Jointly, the experimental and theoretical approaches help to solve the riddle of FsqB amine oxidase substrate specificity.