Product deuterium isotope effects for orotidine 5′-monophosphate decarboxylase: Effect of changing substrate and enzyme structure on the partitioning of the vinyl carbanion reaction intermediate

A product deuterium isotope effect (PIE) of 1.0 was determined as the ratio of the yields of [6-¹H]-uridine 5′-monophosphate (50%) and [6-²H]-uridine 5′-monophosphate (50%) from the decarboxylation of orotidine 5′-monophosphate (OMP) in 50/50 (v/v) HOH/DOD catalyzed by orotidine 5′-monophosphate decarboxylase (OMPDC) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus, and Escherichia coli. This unitary PIE eliminates a proposed mechanism for enzyme-catalyzed decarboxylation in which proton transfer from Lys-93 to C-6 of OMP provides electrophilic push to the loss of CO₂ in a concerted reaction. We propose that the complete lack of selectivity for the reaction of solvent H and D, which is implied by the value of PIE = 1.0, is enforced by restricted C-N bond rotation of the -CH₂-NL₃⁺ group of the side chain of Lys-93. A smaller PIE of 0.93 was determined as the ratio of the product yields for OMPDC-catalyzed decarboxylation of 5-fluoroorotidine 5′-monophosphate (5-FOMP) in 50/50 (v/v) HOH/DOD. Mutations on the following important active-site residues of OMPDC from S. cerevisiae have no effect on the PIE on OMPDC-catalyzed decarboxylation of OMP or decarboxylation of 5-FOMP: R235A, Y217A, Q215A, S124A, and S154A/Q215A.