Methanoarchaeal sulfolactate dehydrogenase:: prototype of a new family of NADH-dependent enzymes

The crystal structure of the sulfolactate dehydrogenase from the hyperthermophilic and methanogenic archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii was solved at 2.5 Angstrom resolution (PDB id. IRFM). The asymmetric unit contains a tetramer of tight dimers. This structure, complexed with NADH, does not contain a cofactor-binding domain with 'Rossmann-fold' topology. Instead, the tertiary and quaternary structures indicate a novel fold. The NADH is bound in an extended conformation in each active site, in a manner that explains the pro-S specificity. Cofactor binding involves residues belonging to both subunits within the tight dimers, which are therefore the smallest enzymatically active units. The protein was found to be a homodimer in solution by size-exclusion chromatography, analytical ultracentrifugation and small-angle neutron scattering. Various compounds were tested as putative substrates. The results indicate the existence of a substrate discrimination mechanism, which involves electrostatic interactions. Based on sequence homology and phylogenetic analyses, several other enzymes were classified as belonging to this novel family of homologous (S)-2-hydroxyacid dehydrogenases.