Kinetic and mechanistic characterization of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

•The GAPDH from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is stabilized by NAD+, allowing for its purification for the first time.•The kinetic mechanism proceeds through an unusual nucleotide exchange reaction.•The catalytic cysteine and histidine residues have been identified using thiol alkylation studies and site-directed mutagenesis.•The chemical mechanism has been determined using a combination of primary, solvent and multiple kinetic isotope effects. Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a glycolytic protein responsible for the conversion of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (G3P), inorganic phosphate and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate (1,3-BPG) and the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Here we report the characterization of GAPDH from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). This enzyme exhibits a kinetic mechanism in which first NAD+, then G3P bind to the active site resulting in the formation of a covalently bound thiohemiacetal intermediate. After oxidation of the thiohemiacetal and subsequent nucleotide exchange (NADH off, NAD+ on), the binding of inorganic phosphate and phosphorolysis yields the product 1,3-BPG. Mutagenesis and iodoacetamide (IAM) inactivation studies reveal the conserved C158 to be responsible for nucleophilic catalysis and that the conserved H185 to act as a catalytic base. Primary, solvent and multiple kinetic isotope effects revealed that the first half-reaction is rate limiting and utilizes a step-wise mechanism for thiohemiacetal oxidation via a transient alkoxide to promote hydride transfer and thioester formation.