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Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
Reprint requests to: John S. Blanchard, Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA; e-mail: blanchar{at}aecom.yu.edu; fax: (718) 430-8565.
(RECEIVED April 21, 2003; FINAL REVISION June 2, 2003; ACCEPTED June 3, 2003)
Article and publication are at http://www.proteinscience.org/cgi/doi/10.1110/ps.03153703.
| Abstract |
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Keywords: Mycothiol biosynthesis; GNAT fold; acetyltransferase
| Introduction |
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-D-glucopyranoside (CysGlcNIns), the last step in mycothiol biosynthesis (Fig. 1A
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| Results and Discussion |
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+ ß fold with a generic topology of ß1
1
2ß2ß3ß4
3ß5
4ß6' (Fig. 1B
1/
2 on one face and helices
3/
4 on the other. The two tandem-repeated domains superimpose with an RMSD of 1.7 Å over 88 structurally similar residues. The largest differences between the two domains are the lack of ß-strand 1 in the N-terminal domain, the position of helix 2, and a long loop inserted between
3' and ß5'. Interestingly, the MshD fold exhibits domain strand exchange, in which the last strand, ß6/ß6' forms antiparallel ß-sheet interactions with ß5/ß5' of the opposite domain. The two domains joined in this fashion form a continuous U-shaped ß-sheet. Most GNAT proteins are dimers in solution, and like MshD, utilize C-terminal ß-strands to form a continuous ß-sheet to link their two subunits (Burk et al. 2003). Strand exchange similar to MshD has been observed in glucosamine-6-phosphate N-acetyltransferase (GNA1; Peneff et al. 2001), histone N-acetyltransferase HPA2 (Angus-Hill et al. 1999), and protein N-myristoyltransferase (Nmt; Bhatnagar et al. 1998; Weston et al. 1998). However, only MshD and Nmt are monomers bearing two copies of the GNAT domain. A search using VAST (Gibrat et al. 1996) and the individual domains of MshD indicates that tabtoxin resistance protein (He et al. 2003) is the most similar, exhibiting an RMSD of 1.6 Å with both the N and C-terminal domains of MshD (over 90 and 123 common residues, respectively). Despite similarities in the dimer interfaces among GNATs, they tend to not superimpose over the whole oligomer due to differences in the exact orientation of the two monomers. The details of the interactions between monomers or GNAT domains is important because the active site(s) of most GNAT dimers are located within this interface. In addition, differences in the orientation of
1, and
2 and the length and position of the loop connecting ß3 and ß4 have a strong influence on the shape and character of this interface.
Several GNAT family members have been determined to date in complex with acetylCoA or CoA. The orientation of the cofactor in all cases is very similar, and in general, the GNAT fold can be viewed as a phosphopantetheine binding domain (Dyda et al. 2000; Watson et al. 2002). The hallmarks of the GNAT fold are binding sites for the pyrophosphate moiety and pantetheine arm of CoA. The pyrophosphate binding site is located in a loop joining ß4 and
3 and has a signature motif of {Q/R}-x-x-G-x-{G/A} (Neuwald and Landsman 1997). This signature sequence positions several consecutive backbone amides in an orientation to coordinate the pyrophosphate oxygens directly or through a conserved water molecule. The pantetheine arm binding site is located between ß-strands 4 and 5, which splay apart to allow the pantetheine arm to make pseudo ß-sheet interactions with the exposed backbone atoms of ß4. Both the N- and C-terminal GNAT domains of MshD contain the signature pyrophosphate binding motif (RRRGIG and QR RGLG, respectively) and the required splaying of strands ß4 and ß5.
MshD, crystallized in the presence of acetylCoA, exhibited clear electron density for the cofactor in both the N-terminal and C-terminal GNAT domains. In general, the two cofactors are bound in similar conformations, utilizing the loop joining ß4 and
3 to coordinate the pyrophosphate moiety and the exposed hydrogen bonds of ß4 to coordinate the pantetheine arm. In each domain the adenosine moieties are constrained within a solvent exposed crevice located between
4 and the pyrophosphate binding loop. The largest difference in the conformation of the two bound acetylCoA molecules is the positioning of the acetyl function. In the C-terminal domain the pantetheine arm runs completely parallel to ß4' with the acetyl carbonyl hydrogen bonded to ß4' through the backbone amide of Leu 238 (Fig. 2A
). In contrast, the pantetheine arm of the acetylCoA in the N-terminal domain follows along ß4 initially, but then turns 90° and adopts an orientation perpendicular to ß4. This difference appears to arise from the shorter distance in the N-terminal domain (
5 Å) between the pyrophosphate binding loop and the splay between strands ß4 and ß5, which may prevent the pantetheine arm from adopting a fully extended conformation.
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3,
4 and by atoms of the pantetheine arm itself. There is no direct path by which an acceptor substrate could bind and interact with the acetyl group of the acetylCoA bound to the N-terminal GNAT domain. In contrast, the acetyl group of acetylCoA bound to the C-terminal domain is presented to a solvent exposed canyon between the two domains (Fig. 2B
3' to ß5', ß3' to ß4', ß3 to ß4, and
1' to
2'. Portions of these loops exhibited no electron density or above average B-factors. Flexibility within these loops may be coupled to catalysis, and has been observed in many other GNAT enzymes (Dyda et al. 2000). Another feature conserved among many GNAT active sites is the ß-bulge in strand ß4' located directly adjacent to the splay in strands ß4' and ß5'. In general, the ß-bulge positions two consecutive carbonyl or two amide backbone atoms towards the active site. The hydrogen bonding potential of these atoms have been implicated in the stabilization of the tetrahedral intermediate and/or coordination of the acceptor substrate (Dyda et al. 2000; Vetting et al. 2002). In the C-terminal MshD GNAT domain the ß-bulge presents the carbonyls of Val 235 and Tyr 236 towards the canyon while the ß-bulge is absent in the N-terminal domain.
The predominant mechanism of acetyl transfer by members of the GNAT family is through direct nucleophilic attack of the acetylCoA cofactor by the acceptor amine (Dyda et al. 2000). Histone acetyltransferase ESA1 is the only GNAT enzyme in which acetylation proceeds through an acetylcysteine intermediate (Yan et al. 2002). The lack of any cysteines in the sequence of MshD suggests that the enzyme catalyzes acetyl transfer by a direct nucleophilic attack. The numerous polar groups and water molecules that surround the active site in the C-terminal domain could act as a proton wire to shuttle protons away during the reaction mechanism as proposed for many GNAT family members (Dyda et al. 2000; Vetting et al. 2002). The side chain hydroxyl of Tyr 294, a conserved residue among many GNAT family members, is positioned close (3.6 Å) to the sulfhydryl of CoA in the C-terminal domain, and could act as an active site acid to protonate the sulfhydryl of CoA after breakdown of the tetrahedral intermediate. Interestingly, the corresponding residue in the N-terminal domain is an alanine (Ala 122), and the space afforded by this difference is filled by the acetyl group of acetylCoA.
Crystals of MshD grown in the presence of CoA also exhibited clear electron density for the cofactor in both the N-terminal and C-terminal GNAT domains. There are no large changes between the acetylCoA and CoA structures, with the two structures exhibiting an RMSD of 0.14 Å over all C
residues. In the C-terminal domain, the pantetheine arm of CoA is modeled in two conformations, indicating that the loss of a hydrogen bond between the acetyl group and ß4' leads to more flexibility in the pantetheine arm after acetyl transfer. Surprisingly, acetylCoA was the form of the coenzyme bound in the N-terminal domain. AcetylCoA must have copurified with MshD and remained bound to the N-terminal domain despite competition by excess CoA during crystallization.
The large differences in the two cofactor binding sites suggest they have dissimilar functions. Because the acetyl group of acetylCoA in the N-terminal domain is completely inaccessible to an acceptor substrate, it seems unlikely that the N-terminal domain exhibits any acetyltransferase activity. It may be possible that structural rearrangements upon catalysis within the C-terminal domain could make the N-terminal acetylCoA accessible (i.e., a reciprocating mechanism); however, the N-terminal domain also lacks many of the catalytic features shared by most GNAT enzymes. As such, the function of the N-terminal bound acetylCoA is unclear, but it may act as an effector molecule or function to stabilize the domain. Interestingly, in Nmt, the only other monomeric protein with two GNAT folds, only one molecule of myristolCoA is bound, and the active GNAT fold is found in the N-terminal domain (Bhatnagar et al. 1998). One of the exceptional features of GNAT family members that utilize different natural substrates is the near absence of conserved residues. The ability to form unique active sites at dimer interfaces would also augment this active site plasticity and could permit GNAT family members to acetylate a much wider variety of substrates. The similarity of the subunit interface of typical GNAT proteins and the interface between the two GNAT domains of MshD suggests that the progenitor of MshD arose from gene duplication and fusion of a homodimeric GNAT, followed by structural rewiring through mutation and selection.
It is difficult to model a CysGlcNIns MshD complex with any confidence due to substrate rotational freedom, the openness of the lower canyon and the high degree of active site dissimilarity between GNAT family members. However, a rudimentary docking study does indicate that the substrate would be totally engulfed by the canyon such that both rings of substrate would be critical to binding affinity, and that significant room would remain within its confines even after binding. This suggests that upon binding there may be a contraction of the two domains around the substrate, reducing the cavity volume. Mobile loops which surround the edges of the canyon may also take different conformations upon substrate binding that may further reduce cavity volume. These movements may provide a degree of substrate selectivity to the active site. Further analysis of residues critical to activity will require determination of the structure of MshD in complex with its acceptor substrate. These studies are currently being pursued.
| Materials and methods |
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The frozen bacterial cell pellet was thawed and disrupted by sonication, and MshD was purified to homogeneity by Ni+2-NTA agarose chromatography. Purified protein was treated with catalytic amounts of thrombin (Sigma) to remove the N-terminal hexahistidine tag. The cleaved tag and thrombin were separated from MshD by anion exchange chromatography (Q-Sepharose, Pharmacia). Purified protein was dialyzed against 20 mM triethanolamine (TEA) pH 8.0, concentrated to 15 mg/mL using a YM10 ultrafiltration membrane (Amicon) and stored at -80°C. The protein concentration was estimated by measuring the absorbance at 280 nm, employing the calculated extinction coefficient of 37,410 M-1cm-1. Dynamic light-scattering experiments were performed on a DynaPro-MS/X instrument (Protein Solutions). The data were measured at room temperature with 15 mg/mL MshD in 20 mM TEA, pH 8.0.
Crystallization of MshD was by the vapor diffusion under oil method using 96-well round-bottom assay plates. Various crystallization conditions were screened by mixing 3 µL 15 mg/mL MSHD, 5 mM CoA with 3 µL of screening solution under 100 µL of silicon oil (Fisher). Initial crystals were obtained with 15% (w/v) polyethylene glycol 4000, 100 mM sodium citrate pH 5.6, 20% (v/v) isopropanol. These crystals were crushed, serially diluted, and used to microseed (under oil) drops that contained 7.5 mg/mL protein, 2.5 mM CoA, or acetylCoA, 5%10% (w/v) polyethylene glycol 4000, and 100 mM ADA, pH 6.0. Well-diffracting crystals grew to approximate dimensions 0.2 x 0.4 x 0.4 mm within 4 d. Crystals were stabilized in 28% (w/v) sucrose, 50 mM ADA, pH 6.0, 10% polyethylene glycol 4000, and 200 mM NaCl for 5 min before vitrification by immersion in liquid nitrogen.
All X-ray diffraction data were collected at 100 K using an R-Axis IV++ image plate detector using CuK
radiation from a Rigaku RU-H3R X-ray generator and processed using DENZO/SCALEPACK (Table 1
; Otwinowski 1993). The crystals belong to space group P212121 with unit cell parameters a = 59.9 Å, b = 61.7 Å, c = 84.5 Å. There is one molecule per asymmetric unit, with a specific volume of 2.3 Å3 Da-1 and an estimated, solvent content of 46% (Matthews 1968).
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| Acknowledgments |
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The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 USC section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
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