Catalysis and Specificity in Enzymatic Glycoside Hydrolysis: A 2,5B Conformation for the Glycosyl-Enzyme Intermediate Revealed by the Structure of the Bacillus Agaradhaerens Family 11 Xylanase.
Sabini, E., Sulzenbacher, G., Dauter, M., Dauter, Z., Jorgensen, P.L., Schulein, M., Dupont, C., Davies, G.J., Wilson, K.S.(1999) Chem Biol 6: 483
- PubMed: 10381409 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/s1074-5521(99)80066-0
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
1H4G, 1H4H, 1QH6, 1QH7 - PubMed Abstract: 
The enzymatic hydrolysis of glycosides involves the formation and subsequent breakdown of a covalent glycosyl-enzyme intermediate via oxocarbenium-ion-like transition states. The covalent intermediate may be trapped on-enzyme using 2-fluoro-substituted glycosides, which provide details of the intermediate conformation and noncovalent interactions between enzyme and oligosaccharide. Xylanases are important in industrial applications - in the pulp and paper industry, pretreating wood with xylanases decreases the amount of chlorine-containing chemicals used. Xylanases are structurally similar to cellulases but differ in their specificity for xylose-based, versus glucose-based, substrates.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, Heslington, York, Y010 5DD, UK.