QM/MM calculations of kinetic isotope effects in the chorismate mutase active site

Kinetic isotope effects have been computed for the Claisen rearrangement of chorismate to prephenate in aqueous solution and in the active site of chorismate mutase from B. subtilus. These included primary C-13 and O-18 and secondary H-3 effects for substitutions at the bond-making and bond-breaking positions. The initial structures of the putative stationary points on the potential energy surface, required for the calculations of isotope effects using the CAMVIB/CAMISO programs, have been selected from hybrid QM/MM molecular dynamical simulations using the DYNAMO program. Refinement of the reactant complex and transition-state structures has been carried out by means of AM I/CHARMM24/TIP3P calculations using the GRACE program, with full gradient relaxation of the position of >5200 atoms for the enzymic simulations, and with a box containing 711 water molecules for the corresponding reaction in aqueous solution. Comparison of these results, and of gas phase calculations, with experimental data has shown that the chemical rearrangement is largely rate-determining for the enzyme mechanism. Inclusion of the chorismate conformational pre-equilibrium step in the modelled kinetic scheme leads to better agreement between recent experimental data and theoretical predictions. These results provide new information on an important enzymatic transformation, and the key factors responsible for the kinetics of its molecular mechanism are clarified. Treatment of the enzyme and/or solvent environment by means of a large and flexible model is absolutely essential for prediction of kinetic isotope effects.