Direct n.m.r. evidence for substrate-induced conformational changes in a β-lactamase

Cefoxitin and other beta-lactam antibiotics with a methoxy group on the alpha-face behave as very poor substrates of the Bacillus licheniformis beta-lactamase. The kinetic properties of the enzyme-cefoxitin system made it theoretically suitable for a detailed structural study of the acyl-enzyme. Unfortunately, soaking the crystals in cefoxitin solution did not allow detection of a crystalline acyl-enzyme complex. In contrast, direct observation by n.m.r. of the stable acyl-enzyme formed with cefoxitin and moxalactam indicated clear modifications of the enzyme structure, which were reflected in the aromatic and high-field methyl regions of the spectrum. The return to the initial free enzyme spectrum was concomitant with the hydrolysis of the acyl-enzyme, the process being slow enough to allow multidimensional n.m.r. experiments.