Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) catalyze the cleavage of the isopeptide bond in polyubiquitin chains to control and regulate the deubiquitination process in all known eukaryotic cells. The human AMSH-LP DUB domain specifically cleaves the isopeptide bonds in the Lys63-linked polyubiquitin chains. In this article, the catalytic mechanism of AMSH-LP has been studied using a combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics method. Two possible hydrolysis processes (Path 1 and Path 2) have been considered. Our calculation results reveal that the activation of Zn2+-coordinated water molecule is the essential step for the hydrolysis of isopeptide bond. In Path 1, the generated hydroxyl first attacks the carbonyl group of Gly76, and then the amino group of Lys63 is protonated, which is calculated to be the rate limiting step with an energy barrier of 13.1 kcal/mol. The energy barrier of the rate limiting step and the structures of intermediate and product are in agreement with the experimental results. In Path 2, the protonation of amino group of Lys63 is prior to the nucleophilic attack of activated hydroxyl. The two proton transfer processes in Path 2 correspond to comparable overall barriers (33.4 and 36.1 kcal/mol), which are very high for an enzymatic reaction. Thus, Path 2 can be ruled out. During the reaction, Glu292 acts as a proton transfer mediator, and Ser357 mainly plays a role in stabilizing the negative charge of Gly76. Besides acting as a Lewis acid, Zn2+ also influences the reaction by coordinating to the reaction substrates (W1 and Gly76).

Inactivation of the E6AP E3 ubiquitin ligase (UBE3A gene) causes Angelman syndrome, while aberrant degradation of p53 by E6AP is implicated in cervical cancers. Herein, we describe the development of photo-cross-linkers to discover catalytic residues of E6AP. Using these cross-linkers, we identified covalent modifications of the E6AP catalytic cysteine and two lysines: Lys847 and Lys799. Lys847 is required for the formation of Lys48-linked polyubiquitin chains, while the K799A E6AP mutant was more active at producing Lys48-linked polyubiquitin chains. Thus, opposing roles of Lys799 and Lys847 pave the path forward to pharmacological inhibitors or activators of E6AP for therapeutic purposes.