α-Helix in Cystathionine β-Synthase Enzyme Acts as Electron Reservoir

The modulation of electron density at the Pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP) catalytic center, due to charge transfer across the α-Helix-PLP interface, is the determining factor for the enzymatic activities in the human Cystathionine β-Synthase (hCBS) enzyme. Applying density-based first-principle calculations in conjunction with the real space density analysis, we investigated the charge density delocalization across the entire Heme-α-Helix-PLP electron communication channels. The hydrogen bonds at the interfaces, i.e. Heme-α-Helix and α-Helix-PLP interfaces, are found to play the pivotal role in bi-directional electron transfer towards the α-Helix. Moreover, the internal hydrogen bonds of α-Helix that are crucial for its secondary structure also actively participate in the electron redistribution through the structured hydrogen bond network. α-Helix is found to accumulate the electron density at the ground state from both the cofactors and behaves as an electron reservoir for catalytic reaction at the electrophilic center of PLP.