Abstract
Fragment molecular orbital calculations were successfully applied to a nylon oligomer hydrolase, NylB, to investigate the hydration effects on an enzyme–substrate binding structure. Statistically corrected inter-fragment interaction energy analyses were performed on this system to quantitatively characterise the interactions between the substrate, 6-aminohexanoate linear dimer (ALD), and the amino acid residues, such as Asp181, Ser112, and Ile 345, which are regarded as important for enzyme–substrate complex formation by NylB. We found that the direct interaction between ALD and NylB is weakened by hydration, because water molecules cause charge translation or polarisation of ALD or each amino acid residue. However, including the interaction energy between ALD and water molecules greatly stabilises this complex. These results indicate the importance of the hydration effects in enzyme–substrate complex formation.
Acknowledgements
FMO calculations were performed using cluster computers at Rikkyo University, Japan.