Structural and biochemical mechanism of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1) substrate recognition

Abstract Deficiency of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1), a crucial enzyme in fatty acid metabolism through the mitochondrial β-oxidation pathway, has been strongly linked to various diseases, especially cardiomyopathy. However, the structural and biochemical mechanisms through which ECHS1 rec...

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Main Authors: Gengchen Su, Youwei Xu, Binxian Chen, Kaide Ju, Ye Jin, Houzao Chen, Shuyang Zhang, Xiaodong Luan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Communications Biology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07924-0
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author Gengchen Su
Youwei Xu
Binxian Chen
Kaide Ju
Ye Jin
Houzao Chen
Shuyang Zhang
Xiaodong Luan
author_facet Gengchen Su
Youwei Xu
Binxian Chen
Kaide Ju
Ye Jin
Houzao Chen
Shuyang Zhang
Xiaodong Luan
author_sort Gengchen Su
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Deficiency of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1), a crucial enzyme in fatty acid metabolism through the mitochondrial β-oxidation pathway, has been strongly linked to various diseases, especially cardiomyopathy. However, the structural and biochemical mechanisms through which ECHS1 recognizes acyl-CoAs remain poorly understood. Herein, cryo-EM analysis reveals the apo structure of ECHS1 and structures of the ECHS1-crotonyl-CoA, ECHS1-acetoacetyl-CoA, ECHS1-hexanoyl-CoA, and ECHS1-octanoyl-CoA complexes at high resolutions. The mechanism through which ECHS1 recognizes its substrates varies with the fatty acid chain lengths of acyl-CoAs. Furthermore, crucial point mutations in ECHS1 have a great impact on substrate recognition, resulting in significant changes in binding affinity and enzyme activity, as do disease-related point mutations in ECHS1. The functional mechanism of ECHS1 is systematically elucidated from structural and biochemical perspectives. These findings provide a theoretical basis for subsequent work focused on determining the role of ECHS1 deficiency (ECHS1D) in the occurrence of diseases such as cardiomyopathy.
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spelling doaj-art-32c11adbed86445c9e0efae6b7fdbbcc2025-08-20T02:28:10ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Biology2399-36422025-04-018111210.1038/s42003-025-07924-0Structural and biochemical mechanism of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1) substrate recognitionGengchen Su0Youwei Xu1Binxian Chen2Kaide Ju3Ye Jin4Houzao Chen5Shuyang Zhang6Xiaodong Luan7Department of Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical ScienceThe CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of SciencesSchool of Medicine, Tsinghua UniversitySchool of Medicine, Tsinghua UniversityDepartment of Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical ScienceDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, State Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical CollegeDepartment of Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical ScienceDepartment of Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical ScienceAbstract Deficiency of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1), a crucial enzyme in fatty acid metabolism through the mitochondrial β-oxidation pathway, has been strongly linked to various diseases, especially cardiomyopathy. However, the structural and biochemical mechanisms through which ECHS1 recognizes acyl-CoAs remain poorly understood. Herein, cryo-EM analysis reveals the apo structure of ECHS1 and structures of the ECHS1-crotonyl-CoA, ECHS1-acetoacetyl-CoA, ECHS1-hexanoyl-CoA, and ECHS1-octanoyl-CoA complexes at high resolutions. The mechanism through which ECHS1 recognizes its substrates varies with the fatty acid chain lengths of acyl-CoAs. Furthermore, crucial point mutations in ECHS1 have a great impact on substrate recognition, resulting in significant changes in binding affinity and enzyme activity, as do disease-related point mutations in ECHS1. The functional mechanism of ECHS1 is systematically elucidated from structural and biochemical perspectives. These findings provide a theoretical basis for subsequent work focused on determining the role of ECHS1 deficiency (ECHS1D) in the occurrence of diseases such as cardiomyopathy.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07924-0
spellingShingle Gengchen Su
Youwei Xu
Binxian Chen
Kaide Ju
Ye Jin
Houzao Chen
Shuyang Zhang
Xiaodong Luan
Structural and biochemical mechanism of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1) substrate recognition
Communications Biology
title Structural and biochemical mechanism of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1) substrate recognition
title_full Structural and biochemical mechanism of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1) substrate recognition
title_fullStr Structural and biochemical mechanism of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1) substrate recognition
title_full_unstemmed Structural and biochemical mechanism of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1) substrate recognition
title_short Structural and biochemical mechanism of short-chain enoyl-CoA hydratase (ECHS1) substrate recognition
title_sort structural and biochemical mechanism of short chain enoyl coa hydratase echs1 substrate recognition
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07924-0
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