Function of Lysine-148 in dTDP-D-Glucose 4,6-Dehydratase from Streptomyces antibioticus Tu99

dTDP-D-glucose 4,6-dehydratase (TDPDH) catalyzes the conversion of dTDP-D-glucose to dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-glucose, and requires $NAD^＋$ as a coenzyme for its catalytic activity. The dTDP-D-glucose 4,6-dehydratase from Streptomyces antibioticus $Tu{\ddot}99$ tightly binds $NAD^＋$ [19]. In order to determine the role of lysine-148 in the $NAD^＋$ binding, the lysine of the dTDP-D-glucose 4,6-dehydratase from Streptomyces antibioticus $Tu{\ddot}99$ was mutated to various amino acids by site-directed mutagenesis. The catalytic activity of the four mutated enzymes of TDPDH did not recover after addition of $NAD^＋$ . However, the activity of K159A, the mutated enzyme of UDP-D-glucose 4-epimerase (UDPE), recovered after the addition of $NAD^＋$ [15]. Although dTDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase, and UDP-galactose (glucose) 4-epimerase are members of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase SDR family and the lysine-148 of TDPDH was highly conserved as in UDPE (Lys-159), the function of the lysine-148 of TDPDH was different from that of UDPE. The mutated enzymes showed that the lysine-148 of the dTDP-D-glucose 4,6-dehydratase played no role in the $NAD^＋$ binding. Accordingly, it is suggested that the lysine-148 of the dTDP-D-glucose 4,6-dehydratase is involved in the folding of TDPDH.