Quantum Chemical Modeling of Enzymatic Methyl Transfer Reactions

In this thesis, quantum chemistry, in particular the B3LYP density functional method, is used to investigate a number of methyl transfer enzymes. Quantum chemical methodology is today a very important tool in the elucidation of properties and reaction mechanisms of enzyme active sites. The enzymes considered in this thesis are the S-adenosyl L-methionine-dependent enzymes glycine N-methyltransferase, guanidinoacetate methyltransferase, phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase, and histone lysine methyltransferase. In addition, the reaction mechanism of the DNA repairing enzyme O6-methylguanine methyltransferase is studied. Active site models of varying sizes were designed and stationary points along the reaction paths were optimized and characterized. Potential energy surfaces for the reactions were calculated and the feasibility of the suggested reaction mechanisms was able to be judged. By systematically increasing the size of the models, deeper insight into the details of the reactions was obtained, the roles of the various active site residues could be analyzed, and, very importantly, the adopted modeling strategy was evaluated.