Conserved water molecules in family 1 glycosidases: a DXMS and molecular dynamics study

By taking advantage of the wealth of structural data available for family 1 glycoside hydrolases, a study of the conservation of internal water molecules found in this ubiquitous family of enzymes was undertaken. Strikingly, seven water molecules are observed in more than 90% of the known structures. To gain insight into their possible function, the water dynamics inside Thermus thermophilus β-glycosidase was probed using deuterium exchange mass spectroscopy, allowing the pinpointing of peptide L117-A125, which exchanges most of its amide hydrogens quickly in spite of the fact that it is for the most part buried in the crystal structure. To help interpret this result, a molecular dynamics simulation was performed whose analysis suggests that two water channels are involved in the process. The longest one (∼16 Å) extends between the protein surface and W120, whose side chain interacts with E164 (the acid-base residue involved in the catalytic mechanism), whereas the other channel allows for the exchange with the bulk of the highly conserved water molecules belonging to the hydration shell of D121, a deeply buried residue. Our simulation also shows that another chain of highly conserved water molecules, going from the protein surface to the bottom of the active site cleft close to the nucleophile residue involved in the catalytic mechanism, is able to exchange with the bulk on the nanosecond time scale. It is tempting to speculate that at least one of these three water channels could be involved in the function of family 1 glycoside hydrolases.