Amino acids flanking the central core of Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase are important in retaining enzyme activity after autoclaving

Enzymes are known to be denatured upon boiling, although Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase of Potentilla atrosanguinea (Pot-SOD) retains significant catalytic activity even after autoclaving (heating at 121 °C at a pressure of 1.1 kg per square cm for 20 min). The polypeptide backbone of Pot-SOD consists of 152 amino acids with a central core spanning His45 to Cys145 that is involved in coordination of Cu2+ and Zn2+ ions. While the central core is essential for imparting catalytic activity and structural stability to the enzyme, the role of sequences flanking the central core was not understood. Experiments with deletion mutants showed that the amino acid sequences flanking the central core were important in retaining activity of Pot-SOD after autoclaving. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated the unfavorable structure of mutants due to increased size of binding pocket and enhanced negative charge on the electrostatic surface, resulting in unavailability of the substrate superoxide radical () to the catalytic pocket. Deletion caused destabilization of structural elements and reduced solvent accessibility that further produced unfavorable structural geometry of the protein.