Crystal structure ofEscherichia colipurine nucleoside phosphorylase in complex with 7-deazahypoxanthine (original) (raw)
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Acta Crystallographica Section F: Structural Biology Communications, 2018
Purine nucleoside phosphorylases (EC 2.4.2.1; PNPs) reversibly catalyze the phosphorolytic cleavage of glycosidic bonds in purine nucleosides to generate ribose 1-phosphate and a free purine base, and are key enzymes in the salvage pathway of purine biosynthesis. They also catalyze the transfer of pentosyl groups between purine bases (the transglycosylation reaction) and are widely used for the synthesis of biologically important analogues of natural nucleosides, including a number of anticancer and antiviral drugs. Potent inhibitors of PNPs are used in chemotherapeutic applications. The detailed study of the binding of purine bases and their derivatives in the active site of PNPs is of particular interest in order to understand the mechanism of enzyme action and for the development of new enzyme inhibitors. Here, it is shown that 7-deazahypoxanthine (7DHX) is a noncompetitive inhibitor of the phosphorolysis of inosine by recombinant Escherichia coli PNP (EcPNP) with an inhibition constant K i of 0.13 mM. A crystal of EcPNP in complex with 7DHX was obtained in microgravity by the counter-diffusion technique and the threedimensional structure of the EcPNP-7DHX complex was solved by molecular replacement at 2.51 Å resolution using an X-ray data set collected at the SPring-8 synchrotron-radiation facility, Japan. The crystals belonged to space group P6 1 22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 120.370, c = 238.971 Å , and contained three subunits of the hexameric enzyme molecule in the asymmetric unit. The 7DHX molecule was located with full occupancy in the active site of each of the three crystallographically independent enzyme subunits. The position of 7DHX overlapped with the positions occupied by purine bases in similar PNP complexes. However, the orientation of the 7DHX molecule differs from those of other bases: it is rotated by $180 relative to other bases. The peculiarities of the arrangement of 7DHX in the EcPNP active site are discussed.
Scientific Reports
Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) catalyses the cleavage of the glycosidic bond of purine nucleosides using phosphate instead of water as a second substrate. PNP from Escherichia coli is a homohexamer, build as a trimer of dimers, and each subunit can be in two conformations, open or closed. This conformational change is induced by the presence of phosphate substrate, and very likely a required step for the catalysis. Closing one active site strongly affects the others, by a yet unclear mechanism and order of events. Kinetic and ligand binding studies show strong negative cooperativity between subunits. Here, for the first time, we managed to monitor the sequence of nucleoside binding to individual subunits in the crystal structures of the wild-type enzyme, showing that first the closed sites, not the open ones, are occupied by the nucleoside. However, two mutations within the active site, Asp204Ala/Arg217Ala, are enough not only to significantly reduce the effectiveness of the enzyme, but also reverse the sequence of the nucleoside binding. In the mutant the open sites, neighbours in a dimer of those in the closed conformation, are occupied as first. This demonstrates how important for the effective catalysis of Escherichia coli PNP is proper subunit cooperation. Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP, purine nucleoside orthophosphate ribosyl transferase, EC 2.4.2.1) has a crucial role in the purine salvage pathway 1. It catalyses the reversible phosphorolytic cleavage of the glycosidic bond of purine (2′-deoxy) nucleosides, generating the corresponding free base and (2′-deoxy) ribose 1-phosphate 1,2. The biologically active form of this enzyme, with only one known exception-PNP from Thermus thermophilus HB27 3 , is always oligomeric: homotrimers are characteristic mostly for mammals, while homohexamers are typical for most bacteria. The arrangement of subunits in the structure of a PNP hexamer is such that two of them donate two amino acids (His4 and Arg43 in E. coli) to each other, thus completing the active site of its neighbour, effectively forming a dimer which possesses an approximate 2-fold symmetry. Three such dimers are then arranged by a 3-fold symmetry axis to form a hexamer. The molecular mechanism by which this enzyme accomplishes its biological function is particularly intricate. In addition to the phosphorolysis being a two-substrate and two-product reversible reaction, with communication between monomers forming a dimer 1 , the mechanism is further complicated by the higher order communication, i.e. an allosteric cross-talk between dimers forming the hexamer 4,5. The way in which this allosteric communication is achieved is still unclear, but the complexity is reflected in an ever increasing number of different arrangements of active site conformations between monomers in the available crystal structures of hexameric PNPs 6. The catalytic mechanism of PNP, especially that of E. coli PNP, has been in the focus of our study for many years 2,5,7-16. It has been firmly established 5,14 that the initial step in the catalysis involves breaking a single α-helix
PLoS ONE, 2012
The hexameric purine nucleoside phosphorylase from Bacillus subtilis (BsPNP233) displays great potential to produce nucleoside analogues in industry and can be exploited in the development of new anti-tumor gene therapies. In order to provide structural basis for enzyme and substrates rational optimization, aiming at those applications, the present work shows a thorough and detailed structural description of the binding mode of substrates and nucleoside analogues to the active site of the hexameric BsPNP233. Here we report the crystal structure of BsPNP233 in the apo form and in complex with 11 ligands, including clinically relevant compounds. The crystal structure of six ligands (adenine, 29deoxyguanosine, aciclovir, ganciclovir, 8-bromoguanosine, 6-chloroguanosine) in complex with a hexameric PNP are presented for the first time. Our data showed that free bases adopt alternative conformations in the BsPNP233 active site and indicated that binding of the co-substrate (29deoxy)ribose 1-phosphate might contribute for stabilizing the bases in a favorable orientation for catalysis. The BsPNP233-adenosine complex revealed that a hydrogen bond between the 59 hydroxyl group of adenosine and Arg 43* side chain contributes for the ribosyl radical to adopt an unusual C3'-endo conformation. The structures with 6-chloroguanosine and 8-bromoguanosine pointed out that the Cl 6 and Br 8 substrate modifications seem to be detrimental for catalysis and can be explored in the design of inhibitors for hexameric PNPs from pathogens. Our data also corroborated the competitive inhibition mechanism of hexameric PNPs by tubercidin and suggested that the acyclic nucleoside ganciclovir is a better inhibitor for hexameric PNPs than aciclovir. Furthermore, comparative structural analyses indicated that the replacement of Ser 90 by a threonine in the B. cereus hexameric adenosine phosphorylase (Thr 91 ) is responsible for the lack of negative cooperativity of phosphate binding in this enzyme.
Croatica Chemica Acta, 2013
The results of several decades of studying the catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli purine nucleoside phosphorylases (PNP) by solution studies and crystal structure determinations are presented. Potentially PNPs can be used for enzyme-activating prodrug gene therapy against solid tumours because of the differences in specificity between human and E. coli PNPs. Biologically active form of PNP from E. coli is a homohexamer that catalyses the phosphorolytic cleavage of the glycosidic bond of purine nucleosides. Two conformations of the active site are possible after substrate(s) binding: open and closed. A series of determined 3D-structures of PNP binary and ternary complexes facilitated the prediction of the main steps in the catalytic mechanism. For their validation the active site mutants: Arg24Ala, Asp204Ala, Arg217Ala, Asp204Asn and double mutant Asp204Ala/Arg217Ala were prepared. The activity tests confirm that catalysis involves protonation of the purine base at position N7 and give better insight into the cooperativity between subunits in this oligomeric enzyme.
Journal of Structural Biology, 2010
In humans, purine nucleoside phosphorylase (HsPNP) is responsible for degradation of deoxyguanosine, and genetic deficiency of this enzyme leads to profound T-cell mediated immunosuppression. HsPNP is a target for inhibitor development aiming at T-cell immune response modulation. Here we report the crystal structure of HsPNP in complex with 7-deazaguanine (HsPNP:7DG) at 2.75 Å. Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to assess the structural features of HsPNP in both free form and in complex with 7DG. Our results show that some regions, responsible for entrance and exit of substrate, present a conformational variability, which is dissected by dynamics simulation analysis. Enzymatic assays were also carried out and revealed that 7-deazaguanine presents a lower inhibitory activity against HsPNP (Ki = 200 μM). The present structure may be employed in both structure-based design of PNP inhibitors and in development of specific empirical scoring functions.
Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase. 2. Catalytic Mechanism †
Biochemistry, 1997
X-ray crystallography, molecular modeling, and site-directed mutagenesis were used to delineate the catalytic mechanism of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP). PNP catalyzes the reversible phosphorolysis of purine nucleosides to the corresponding purine base and ribose 1-phosphate using a substrate-assisted catalytic mechanism. The proposed transition state (TS) features an oxocarbenium ion that is stabilized by the cosubstrate phosphate dianion which itself functions as part of a catalytic triad (Glu89-His86-PO 4 d). Participation of phosphate in the TS accounts for the poor hydrolytic activity of PNP and is likely to be the mechanistic feature that differentiates phosphorylases from glycosidases. The proposed PNP TS also entails a hydrogen bond between N7 and a highly conserved Asn. Hydrogen bond donation to N7 in the TS stabilizes the negative charge that accumulates on the purine ring during glycosidic bond cleavage. Kinetic studies using N7-modified analogs provided additional support for the hydrogen bond. Crystallographic studies of 13 human PNP-ligand complexes indicated that PNP uses a ligand-induced conformational change to position Asn243 and other key residues in the active site for catalysis. These studies also indicated that purine nucleosides bind to PNP with a nonstandard glycosidic torsion angle (+anticlinal) and an uncommon sugar pucker (C4′-endo). Single point energy calculations predicted the binding conformation to enhance phosphorolysis through ligand strain. Structural data also suggested that purine binding precedes ribose 1-phosphate binding in the synthetic direction whereas the order of substrate binding was less clear for phosphorolysis. Conservation of the catalytically important residues across nucleoside phosphorylases with specificity for 6-oxopurine nucleosides provided further support for the proposed catalytic mechanism.
Biochemistry, 2002
Immucillin-H (ImmH) and immucillin-G (ImmG) were previously reported as transition-state analogues for bovine purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) and are the most powerful inhibitors reported for the enzyme (K i * ) 23 and 30 pM). Sixteen new immucillins are used to probe the atomic interactions that cause tight binding for bovine PNP. Eight analogues of ImmH are identified with equilibrium dissociation constants of 1 nM or below. A novel crystal structure of bovine PNP-ImmG-PO 4 is described. Crystal structures of ImmH and ImmG bound to bovine PNP indicate that nearly every H-bond donor/ acceptor site on the inhibitor is fully engaged in favorable H-bond partners. Chemical modification of the immucillins is used to quantitate the energetics for each contact at the catalytic site. Conversion of the 6-carbonyl oxygen to a 6-amino group (ImmH to ImmA) increases the dissociation constant from 23 pM to 2.6 million pM. Conversion of the 4′-imino group to a 4′-oxygen (ImmH to 9-deazainosine) increases the dissociation constant from 23 pM to 2.0 million pM. Substituents that induce small pK a changes at N-7 demonstrate modest loss of affinity. Thus, 8-F or 8-CH 3 -substitutions decrease affinity less than 10-fold. But a change in the deazapurine ring to convert N-7 from a H-bond donor to a H-bond acceptor (ImmH to 4-aza-3-deaza-ImmH) decreases affinity by >10 7 . Introduction of a methylene bridge between 9-deazahypoxanthine and the iminoribitol (9-(1′-CH 2 )-ImmH) increased the distance between leaving and oxacarbenium groups and increased K i to 91 000 pM. Catalytic site energetics for 20 substitutions in the transition-state analogue are analyzed in this approach. Disruption of the H-bond pattern that defines the transition-state ensemble leads to a large decrease in binding affinity. Changes in a single H-bond contact site cause up to 10.1 kcal/mol loss of binding energy, requiring a cooperative H-bond pattern in binding the transition-state analogues. Groups involved in leaving group activation and ribooxacarbenium ion stabilization are central to the H-bond network that provides transition-state stabilization and tight binding of the immucillins.
Anopheles gambiae Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase: Catalysis, Structure, and Inhibition
Biochemistry, 2007
The purine salvage pathway of Anopheles gambiae, a mosquito that transmits malaria, has been identified in genome searches on the basis of sequence homology with characterized enzymes. Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) is a target for the development of therapeutic agents in humans and purine auxotrophs, including malarial parasites. The PNP from Anopheles gambiae (AgPNP) was expressed in Escherichia coli and compared to the PNPs from Homo sapiens (HsPNP) and Plasmodium falciparum (PfPNP). AgPNP has k cat values of 54 and 41 s-1 for 2′-deoxyinosine and inosine, its preferred substrates, and 1.0 s-1 for guanosine. However, the chemical step is fast for AgPNP at 226 s-1 for guanosine in pre-steady-state studies. 5′-Deaza-1′-aza-2′-deoxy-1′-(9-methylene)-Immucillin-H (DADMe-ImmH) is a transition-state mimic for a 2′-deoxyinosine ribocation with a fully dissociated N-ribosidic bond and is a slow-onset, tight-binding inhibitor with a dissociation constant of 3.5 pM. This is the tightest-binding inhibitor known for any PNP, with a remarkable K m /K i * of 5.4 × 10 7 , and is consistent with enzymatic transition state predictions of enhanced transition-state analogue binding in enzymes with enhanced catalytic efficiency. Deoxyguanosine is a weaker substrate than deoxyinosine, and DADMe-Immucillin-G is less tightly bound than DADMe-ImmH, with a dissociation constant of 23 pM for AgPNP as compared to 7 pM for HsPNP. The crystal structure of AgPNP was determined in complex with DADMe-ImmH and phosphate to a resolution of 2.2 Å to reveal the differences in substrate and inhibitor specificity. The distance from the N1′ cation to the phosphate O4 anion is shorter in the AgPNP‚DADMe-ImmH‚PO 4 complex than in HsPNP‚DADMe-ImmH‚SO 4 , offering one explanation for the stronger inhibitory effect of DADMe-ImmH for AgPNP.