Exploring interfacial water trapping in protein-ligand complexes with multithermal titration calorimetry

In this work, we examine the hypothesis about how trapped water molecules at the interface between triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) and either of two phosphorylated inhibitors, 2-phosphoglycolate (2PG) or phosphoglycolohydroxamate (PGH), can explain the anomalous highly negative binding heat capacities (ΔCp,b) of both complexes, TIM–2PG and TIM–PGH. We performed fluorimetric titrations of the enzyme with PGH inhibitor under osmotic stress conditions, using various concentrations of either osmolyte: sucrose, ethylene glycol or glycine betaine. We also analyze the binding processes under various stressor concentrations using a novel calorimetric methodology that allows ΔCp,b determinations in single experiments: Multithermal Titration Calorimetry. The binding constant of the TIM–PGH complex decreased gradually with the concentration of all osmolytes, but at diverse extents depending on the osmolyte nature. According to the osmotic stress theory, this decrease indicates that the number of water molecules associated with the enzyme increases with inhibitor binding, i.e. some solvent molecules became trapped. Additionally, the binding heat capacities became less negative at higher osmolyte concentrations, their final values depending on the osmolyte. These effects were also observed in the TIM–2PG complex using sucrose as stressor. Our results strongly suggest that some water molecules became immobilized when the TIM-inhibitor complexes were formed. A computational analysis of the hydration state of the binding site of TIM in both its free state and its complexed form with 2PG or PGH, based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in explicit solvent, showed that the binding site effectively immobilized additional water molecules after binding these inhibitors. •The affinity of TIM for PGH and 2PG decreased gradually under increasing osmotic stress.•Binding ΔCp became less negative at higher osmolyte concentrations.•MD simulations showed that TIM fixes additional water molecules after binding 2PGH or PGH.•Binding thermodynamics can be modulated by the fixation/release of water molecules.