Mechanistic aspects of the transamination reactions catalyzed by D-amino acid transaminase from Haliscomenobacter hydrossis

Pyridoxal-5′-phosphate-(PLP-) dependent D-amino acid transaminases (DAATs) catalyze stereoselective reversible transfer of the amino group between D-amino acids and keto acids. In vivo DAATs are commonly known to synthesize D-glutamate for cell wall peptidoglycans. Today DAATs meet increasing attention for application in the synthesis of D-amino acids, whereas little is known about the mechanism of substrate recognition and catalytic steps of the D-amino acids conversion by DAATs. In this work, the pre-steady-state kinetics of the half-reactions of DAAT from Haliscomenobacter hydrossis with D-glutamate, D-alanine, D-leucine, and D-phenylalanine was examined at two wavelengths, 416 and 330 nm, using a stopped-flow technique. Monophasic kinetics was observed with specific substrates D-glutamate and D-alanine, whereas half-reactions with D-leucine and D-phenylalanine exhibited biphasic kinetics. All half-reactions proceeded until the complete conversion of PLP due to the release of the pyridoxamine-5′-phosphate form of cofactor from the holoenzyme . Comparison of kinetic parameters of half-reactions and the overall transamination reactions for D-leucine, D-phenylalanine revealed the increase in the rates of deamination of these substrates in the overall reaction with α-ketoglutarate. In the overall transamination reaction, the catalytic turnover rates for D-leucine and D-phenylalanine increased by 260 and 60 times, correspondingly, comparing with the slowest step rate constants in the half-reactions. We suggested the activating effect by a specific substrate α-ketoglutarate in the overall transamination reaction. The study of half-reactions helped to quantify the specificity of DAAT from H. hydrossis for D-amino acids with different properties. The results obtained are the first detailed analysis of half-reactions catalyzed by DAAT.