Genetic fusion of P450 BM3 and formate dehydrogenase towards self-sufficient biocatalysts with enhanced activity

Fusion of multiple enzymes to multifunctional constructs has been recognized as a viable strategy to improve enzymatic properties at various levels such as stability, activity and handling. In this study, the genes coding for cytochrome P450 BM3 from B. megaterium and formate dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas sp. were fused to enable both substrate oxidation catalyzed by P450 BM3 and continuous cofactor regeneration by formate dehydrogenase within one construct. The order of the genes in the fusion as well as the linkers that bridge the enzymes were varied. The resulting constructs were compared to individual enzymes regarding substrate conversion, stability and kinetic parameters to examine whether fusion led to any substantial improvements of enzymatic properties. Most noticeably, an activity increase of up to threefold was observed for the fusion constructs with various substrates which were partly attributed to the increased diflavin reductase activity of the P450 BM3. We suggest that P450 BM3 undergoes conformational changes upon fusion which resulted in altered properties, however, no NADPH channeling was detected for the fusion constructs.

The FMN “140s Loop” of Cytochrome P450 Reductase Controls Electron Transfer to Cytochrome P450

Cytochrome P450 reductase (CYPOR) provides electrons to all human microsomal cytochrome P450s (cyt P450s). The length and sequence of the “140s” FMN binding loop of CYPOR has been shown to be a key determinant of its redox potential and activity with cyt P450s. Shortening the “140s loop” by deleting glycine-141(ΔGly141) and by engineering a second mutant that mimics flavo-cytochrome P450 BM3 (ΔGly141/Glu142Asn) resulted in mutants that formed an unstable anionic semiquinone. In an attempt to understand the molecular basis of the inability of these mutants to support activity with cyt P450, we expressed, purified, and determined their ability to reduce ferric P450. Our results showed that the ΔGly141 mutant with a very mobile loop only reduced ~7% of cyt P450 with a rate similar to that of the wild type. On the other hand, the more stable loop in the ΔGly141/Glu142Asn mutant allowed for ~55% of the cyt P450 to be reduced ~60% faster than the wild type. Our results reveal that the poor activity of the ΔGly141 mutant is primarily accounted for by its markedly diminished ability to reduce ferric cyt P450. In contrast, the poor activity of the ΔGly141/Glu142Asn mutant is presumably a consequence of the altered structure and mobility of the “140s loop”.

Engineering the biomimetic cofactors of NMNH for cytochrome P450 BM3 based on binding conformation refinement

A rational design strategy was proposed to improve the efficient utilization of alternative biomimetic cofactor by P450 BM3 enzyme.