Structure, Mechanism, and Conformational Dynamics of O-Acetylserine Sulfhydrylase from Salmonella Typhimurium: Comparison of a and B Isozymes.

O-Acetylserine sulfhydrylase is a pyridoxal 5‘-phosphate-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the final step in the cysteine biosynthetic pathway in enteric bacteria and plants, the replacement of the β-acetoxy group of O-acetyl-l-serine by a thiol to give l-cysteine. Two isozymes are found in Salmonella typhimurium, with the A-isozyme expressed under aerobic and the B-isozyme expressed under anaerobic conditions. The structure of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase B has been solved to 2.3 A and exhibits overall a fold very similar to that of the A-isozyme. The main difference between the two isozymes is the more hydrophilic active site of the B-isozyme with two ionizable residues, C280 and D281, replacing the neutral residues S300 and P299, respectively, in the A-isozyme. D281 is above the re face of the cofactor and is within hydrogen-bonding distance to Y286, while C280 is located about 3.4 A from the pyridine nitrogen (N1) of the internal Schiff base. The B-isozyme has a turnover number (V/Et) 12.5-fold higher t...