Proton transfer from histidine 244 may facilitate the 1,2 rearrangement reaction in coenzyme B(12)-dependent methylmalonyl-CoA mutase.

Methylmalonyl-CoA mutase is an adenosylcobalamin-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the 1,2 rearrangement of methylmalonyl-CoA to succinyl-CoA. This reaction results in the interchange of a carbonyl-CoA group and a hydrogen atom on vicinal carbons. The crystal structure of the enzyme reveals the presence of an aromatic cluster of residues in the active site that includes His-244, Tyr-243, and Tyr-89 in the large subunit. Of these, His-244 is within hydrogen bonding distance to the carbonyl oxygen of the carbonyl-CoA moiety of the substrate. The location of these aromatic residues suggests a possible role for them in catalysis either in radical stabilization and/or by direct participation in one or more steps in the reaction. The mechanism by which the initially formed substrate radical isomerizes to the product radical during the rearrangement of methylmalonyl-CoA to succinyl-CoA is unknown. Ab initio molecular orbital theory calculations predict that partial proton transfer can contribute significantly to the lowering of the barrier for the rearrangement reaction. In this study, we report the kinetic characterization of the H244G mutant, which results in an acute sensitivity of the enzyme to oxygen, indicating the important role of this residue in radical stabilization. Mutation of His-244 leads to an approximately 300-fold lowering in the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme and loss of one of the two titratable pK(a) values that govern the activity of the wild type enzyme. These data suggest that protonation of His-244 increases the reaction rate in wild type enzyme and provides experimental support for ab initio molecular orbital theory calculations that predict rate enhancement of the rearrangement reaction by the interaction of the migrating group with a general acid. However, the magnitude of the rate enhancement is significantly lower than that predicted by the theoretical studies.