Structural Basis for Nucleobase Activation by the Adenine DNA Glycosylase MutY

MutY excises adenine (A) from 8-oxo-guanine:adenine (OG:A) lesions in DNA to initiate base excision repair (BER) and thereby prevent mutations. A catalytic Glu, found at position 43 in the enzyme from <i>Geobacillus stearothermophilus</i> (<i>Gs</i> MutY), protonates the nucleobase at N⁷ to labilize the N-glycosidic bond. The resulting oxocarbenium ion transition state is stabilized by a covalent DNA-enzyme intermediate and resolved by nucleophilic attack to yield the <i>beta</i>-anomer abasic AP site product. The retaining SN1 mechanism for MutY posits deprotonation of the nucleophile by the catalytic Glu. Here we tested kinetic and structural consequences of Glu replacement and found that E43Q and E43S substitution variants were severely impaired, retained measurable activity, but engage the substrate nucleobase in an <i>anti</i> conformation, rotated by 180 ° from the <i>syn</i> conformation seen in previous substrate complexes. The enzyme-generated AP product is observed in its <i>alpha</i>-anomer configuration for these Glu-replacement variants. Comparison with inverting adenine glycosylases that act on RNA or nucleosides shows that MutY's mechanism is uniquely reliant on one catalytic residue for both leaving group and nucleophile activation, a situation that may serve to ensure only rare adenines paired with OG are excised.