Structural and Biochemical Characterization of the Type II
Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase GlpX from Escherichia
coli |
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Authors: | Greg Brown Alexander Singer Vladimir V Lunin Michael Proudfoot Tatiana Skarina Robert Flick Samvel Kochinyan Ruslan Sanishvili Andrzej Joachimiak Aled M Edwards Alexei Savchenko and Alexander F Yakunin |
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Institution: | ‡Banting and Best Department of Medical Research, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L6, Canada, the §Chemical and Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, and the ¶Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Midwest Center for Structural Genomics and Structural Biology Center, Argonne, Illinois 60439 |
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Abstract: | Gluconeogenesis is an important metabolic pathway, which produces glucose
from noncarbohydrate precursors such as organic acids, fatty acids, amino
acids, or glycerol. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, a key enzyme of
gluconeogenesis, is found in all organisms, and five different classes of
these enzymes have been identified. Here we demonstrate that Escherichia
coli has two class II fructose-1,6-bisphosphatases, GlpX and YggF, which
show different catalytic properties. We present the first crystal structure of
a class II fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (GlpX) determined in a free state and
in the complex with a substrate (fructose 1,6-bisphosphate) or inhibitor
(phosphate). The crystal structure of the ligand-free GlpX revealed a compact,
globular shape with two α/β-sandwich domains. The core fold of GlpX
is structurally similar to that of Li+-sensitive phosphatases
implying that they have a common evolutionary origin and catalytic mechanism.
The structure of the GlpX complex with fructose 1,6-bisphosphate revealed that
the active site is located between two domains and accommodates several
conserved residues coordinating two metal ions and the substrate. The third
metal ion is bound to phosphate 6 of the substrate. Inorganic phosphate
strongly inhibited activity of both GlpX and YggF, and the crystal structure
of the GlpX complex with phosphate demonstrated that the inhibitor molecule
binds to the active site. Alanine replacement mutagenesis of GlpX identified
12 conserved residues important for activity and suggested that
Thr90 is the primary catalytic residue. Our data provide insight
into the molecular mechanisms of the substrate specificity and catalysis of
GlpX and other class II fructose-1,6-bisphosphatases.Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase
(FBPase,2 EC
3.1.3.11), a key enzyme of gluconeogenesis, catalyzes the hydrolysis of
fructose 1,6-bisphosphate to form fructose 6-phosphate and orthophosphate. It
is the reverse of the reaction catalyzed by phosphofructokinase in glycolysis,
and the product, fructose 6-phosphate, is an important precursor in various
biosynthetic pathways (1). In
all organisms, gluconeogenesis is an important metabolic pathway that allows
the cells to synthesize glucose from noncarbohydrate precursors, such as
organic acids, amino acids, and glycerol. FBPases are members of the large
superfamily of lithium-sensitive phosphatases, which includes three families
of inositol phosphatases and FBPases (the phosphoesterase clan CL0171, 3167
sequences, Pfam data base). These enzymes show metal-dependent and
lithium-sensitive phosphomonoesterase activity and include inositol
polyphosphate 1-phosphatases, inositol monophosphatases (IMPases),
3′-phosphoadenosine 5′-phosphatases (PAPases), and enzymes acting
on both inositol 1,4-bisphosphate and PAP (PIPases)
(2). They possess a common
structural core with the active site lying between α+β and
α/β domains (3).
Li+-sensitive phosphatases are putative targets for lithium therapy
in the treatment of manic depressive patients
(4), whereas FBPases are
targets for the development of drugs for the treatment of noninsulin-dependent
diabetes (5,
6). In addition, FBPase is
required for virulence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and
Leishmania major and plays an important role in the production of
lysine and glutamate by Corynebacterium glutamicum
(7,
8).Presently, five different classes of FBPases have been proposed based on
their amino acid sequences (FBPases I to V)
(9–11).
Eukaryotes contain only the FBPase I-type enzyme, but all five types exist in
various prokaryotes. Types I, II, and III are primarily in bacteria, type IV
in archaea (a bifunctional FBPase/inositol monophosphatase), and type V in
thermophilic prokaryotes from both domains
(11). Many organisms have more
than one FBPase, mostly the combination of types I + II or II + III, but no
bacterial genome has a combination of types I and III FBPases
(9). The type I FBPase is the
most widely distributed among living organisms and is the primary FBPase in
Escherichia coli, most bacteria, a few archaea, and all
eukaryotes (9,
11–15).
The type II FBPases are represented by the E. coli GlpX and FBPase
F-I from Synechocystis PCC6803
(9,
16); type III is represented
by the Bacillus subtilis FBPase
(17); type IV is represented
by the dual activity FBPases/inosine monophosphatases FbpA from Pyrococcus
furiosus (18), MJ0109
from Methanococcus jannaschii
(19), and AF2372 from
Archaeoglobus fulgidus
(20); and type V is
represented by the FBPases TK2164 from Pyrococcus
(Thermococcus) kodakaraensis and ST0318 from Sulfolobus
tokodai (10,
21).Three-dimensional structures of the type I (from pig kidney, spinach
chloroplasts, and E. coli), type IV (MJ0109 and AF2372), and type V
(ST0318) FBPases have been solved
(10,
11,
19,
20,
22,
23). FBPases I and IV and
inositol monophosphatases share a common sugar phosphatase fold organized in
five layered interleaved α-helices and β-sheets
(α-β-α-β-α)
(2,
19,
24). ST0318 (an FBPase V
enzyme) is composed of one domain with a completely different four-layer
α-β-β-α fold
(10). The FBPases from these
three classes (I, IV, and V) require divalent cations for activity
(Mg2+, Mn2+, or Zn2+), and their structures
have revealed the presence of three or four metal ions in the active site.E. coli has five Li+-sensitive phosphatases as follows:
CysQ (a PAPase), SuhB (an IMPase), Fbp (a FBPase I enzyme), GlpX (a FBPase
II), and YggF (an uncharacterized protein) (see the Pfam data base). CysQ is a
3′-phosphoadenosine 5′-phosphatase involved in the cysteine
biosynthesis pathway (25,
26), whereas SuhB is an
inositol monophosphatase (IMPase) that is also known as a suppressor of
temperature-sensitive growth phenotypes in E. coli
(27,
28). Fbp is required for
growth on gluconeogenic substrates and probably represents the main
gluconeogenic FBPase (12).
This enzyme has been characterized both biochemically and structurally and
shown to be inhibited by low concentrations of AMP (IC50 15
μm) (11,
29,
30). The E. coli
GlpX, a class II enzyme FBPase, has been shown to possess a
Mn2+-dependent FBPase activity
(9). The increased expression
of glpX from a multicopy plasmid complemented the Fbp-
phenotype; however, the glpX knock-out strain grew normally on
gluconeogenic substrates (succinate or glycerol)
(9).In this study, we present the first structure of a class II FBPase, the
E. coli GlpX, in a free state and in the complex with FBP + metals or
phosphate. We have demonstrated that the fold of GlpX is similar to that of
the lithium-sensitive phosphatases. We have identified the GlpX residues
important for activity and proposed a catalytic mechanism. We have also showed
that YggF is a third FBPase in E. coli, which has distinct catalytic
properties and is more sensitive than GlpX to the inhibition by lithium or
phosphate. |
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