Site-directed mutagenesis and oxygen isotope incorporation studies of the nucleophilic aspartate of haloalkane dehalogenase.

Haloalkane dehalogenase catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of carbon-halogen bonds in a broad range of halogenated aliphatic compounds. The X-ray structure suggests that Asp124, which is located close to an internal cavity, carries out a nucleophilic attack on the C alpha of the substrate, releasing the halogen. To study the mechanism of hydrolysis, this aspartate residue was mutated to alanine, glycine, or glutamate. The mutant enzymes showed no activity toward 1,2-dichloroethane and 1,2-dibromoethane. Incubation of purified wild-type dehalogenase with 1,2-dichloroethane in the presence of H2(18)O resulted in the incorporation of 18O in 2-chloroethanol and in the carboxylate group of Asp124. This shows that the reaction proceeds by covalent catalysis with the formation of an alkyl-enzyme intermediate that is hydrolyzed by attack of solvent water on the carbonyl carbon of Asp124. On the basis of amino acid sequence similarity between haloalkane dehalogenase and epoxide hydrolases, it is proposed that a conserved aspartate residue is also involved in covalent catalysis by the latter enzymes.