Substrate-induced changes in the ammonia channel for imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase

IGP synthase is a glutamine amidotransferase that incorporates ammonia derived from glutamine into the unusual nucleotide, N(1)-[(5'-phosphoribulosyl)-formimino]-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (PRFAR) to form 5'-(5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide) ribonucleotide (AICAR) and imidazole glycerol phosphate (IGP). A common feature of all glutamine amidotransferases is the upregulation of glutamine hydrolysis in the presence of an acceptor substrate. A refined assay system was developed to establish that Saccharomyces cerevisae IGP synthase shows a 4900-fold stimulation of glutaminase in the presence of the substrate acceptor PRFAR. The structure and function of IGP synthase acceptor substrate binding site were probed with competitive inhibitors that are nucleotide substrate and product analogues. In addition, these analogues were also used to establish that the normal steady-state turnover cycle involves a random sequential mechanism. Upregulation of the glutaminase active site occurs when these competitive inhibitors bind in the nucleotide site over 30 A away. One of the key structural features of IGP synthase is that the transfer of ammonia from the glutaminase site occurs through the (beta/alpha)(8) core of the protein. Upon the basis of the recent substrate-occupied structure for yeast IGP synthase (1), kinetic investigations of site-directed mutants revealed that a conserved K258 residue is key to productive binding and the overall stoichiometry of the reaction. The binding of the ribulosyl phosphate portion of the substrate PRFAR appears to be transduced through reorientation of K258 resulting in a conformational switch at the base of the (beta/alpha)(8) core that enables the passage of ammonia through the core of the protein. The overall analysis also leads to further discussion of how the residues that cover the opening of the (beta/alpha)(8) in the closed state may assist the channeling of ammonia at the interface of the two functional domains in the open state.     

Expression and purification of imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Imidazole glycerol phosphate (IGP) synthase is a glutamine amidotransferase that catalyzes the formation of IGP and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR) from N(1)-[(5'-phosphoribulosyl)formimino]-5-aminoimidazole-4-car boxamide ribonucleotide (PRFAR). This enzyme represents a junction between histidine biosynthesis and de novo purine biosynthesis. The recent characterization of the HIS7 gene in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae IGP synthase established that this protein is bifunctional, representing a fusion between the N-terminal HisH domain and a C-terminal HisF domain. Catalytically active yeast HIS7 was expressed in a bacterial system under the control of T7 polymerase promoter. The recombinant enzyme was purified to homogeneity and the native molecular weight and steady-state kinetic constants were determined. The yeast enzyme is distinguished from the Escherichia coli IGP synthase in its utilization of ammonia as a substrate. HIS7 displays a higher K(m) for glutamine and a lower turnover in the ammonia-dependent IGP synthase activity. As observed with the E. coli IGP synthase, HIS7 shows a low basal level glutaminase activity that can be enhanced 1000-fold in the presence of a nucleotide substrate or analog. The purification and characterization of the S. cerevisiae enzyme will enable a more detailed investigation of the biochemical mechanisms that mediate the ammonia-transfer process. The fused structural feature of the HIS7 protein and the development of a high-level production system for the active enzyme elevate the potential for determination of its three-dimensional structure through X-ray crystallography.     

Expression and Purification of Imidazole Glycerol Phosphate Synthase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Imidazole glycerol phosphate (IGP) synthase is a glutamine amidotransferase that catalyzes the formation of IGP and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR) from N¹-[(5′-phosphoribulosyl)formimino]-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (PRFAR). This enzyme represents a junction between histidine biosynthesis and de novo purine biosynthesis. The recent characterization of the HIS7 gene in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae IGP synthase established that this protein is bifunctional, representing a fusion between the N-terminal HisH domain and a C-terminal HisF domain. Catalytically active yeast HIS7 was expressed in a bacterial system under the control of T7 polymerase promoter. The recombinant enzyme was purified to homogeneity and the native molecular weight and steady-state kinetic constants were determined. The yeast enzyme is distinguished from the Escherichia coli IGP synthase in its utilization of ammonia as a substrate. HIS7 displays a higher K_m for glutamine and a lower turnover in the ammonia-dependent IGP synthase activity. As observed with the E. coli IGP synthase, HIS7 shows a low basal level glutaminase activity that can be enhanced 1000-fold in the presence of a nucleotide substrate or analog. The purification and characterization of the S. cerevisiae enzyme will enable a more detailed investigation of the biochemical mechanisms that mediate the ammonia-transfer process. The fused structural feature of the HIS7 protein and the development of a high-level production system for the active enzyme elevate the potential for determination of its three-dimensional structure through X-ray crystallography.     

Toward understanding the mechanism of the complex cyclization reaction catalyzed by imidazole glycerolphosphate synthase: crystal structures of a ternary complex and the free enzyme

Imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase catalyzes formation of the imidazole ring in histidine biosynthesis. The enzyme is also a glutamine amidotransferase, which produces ammonia in a glutaminase active site and channels it through a 30-A internal tunnel to a cyclase active site. Glutaminase activity is impaired in the resting enzyme, and stimulated by substrate binding in the cyclase active site. The signaling mechanism was investigated in the crystal structure of a ternary complex in which the glutaminase active site was inactivated by a glutamine analogue and the unstable cyclase substrate was cryo-trapped in the active site. The orientation of N(1)-(5'-phosphoribulosyl)-formimino-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide in the cyclase active site implicates one side of the cyclase domain in signaling to the glutaminase domain. This side of the cyclase domain contains the interdomain hinge. Two interdomain hydrogen bonds, which do not exist in more open forms of the enzyme, are proposed as molecular signals. One hydrogen bond connects the cyclase domain to the substrate analogue in the glutaminase active site. The second hydrogen bond connects to a peptide that forms an oxyanion hole for stabilization of transient negative charge during glutamine hydrolysis. Peptide rearrangement induced by a fully closed domain interface is proposed to activate the glutaminase by unblocking the oxyanion hole. This interpretation is consistent with biochemical results [Myers, R. S., et al., (2003) Biochemistry 42, 7013-7022, the accompanying paper in this issue] and with structures of the free enzyme and a binary complex with a second glutamine analogue.     

Subunit interactions and glutamine utilization by Escherichia coli imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase

A selection strategy has been developed to identify amino acid residues involved in subunit interactions that coordinate the two half-reactions catalyzed by glutamine amidotransferases. The protein structures known for this class of enzymes have revealed that ammonia is shuttled over long distances and that each amidotransferase evolved different molecular tunnels for this purpose. The heterodimeric Escherichia coli imidazole glycerol phosphate (IGP) synthase was probed to assess if residues in the substrate amination subunit (HisF) are critical for the glutaminase activity in the HisH subunit. The activity of the HisH subunit is dependent upon binding of the nucleotide substrate at the HisF active site. This regulatory function has been exploited as a biochemical selection of mutant HisF subunits that retain full activity with ammonia as a substrate but, when constituted as a holoenzyme with wild-type HisH, impair the glutamine-dependent activity of IGP synthase. The steady-state kinetic constants for these IGP synthases with HisF alleles showed three distinct effects depending upon the site of mutation. For example, mutation of the R5 residue has similar effects on the glutamine-dependent amidotransfer reaction; however, k(cat)/K(m) for the glutaminase half-reaction was increased 10-fold over that for the wild-type enzyme with nucleotide substrate. This site appears essential for coupling of the glutamine hydrolysis and ammonia transfer steps and is the first example of a site remote to the catalytic triad that modulates the process. The results are discussed in the context of recent X-ray crystal structures of glutamine amidotransferases that relate the glutamine binding and acceptor binding sites.     

Millisecond dynamics in the allosteric enzyme imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase (IGPS) from Thermotoga maritima

IGPS is a 51 kDa heterodimeric enzyme comprised of two proteins, HisH and HisF, that catalyze the hydrolysis of glutamine to produce NH₃ in the HisH active site and the cyclization of ammonia with N′-[(5′-phosphoribulosyl)formimino]-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-ribonucleotide (PRFAR) in HisF to produce imidazole glycerol phosphate (IGP) and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribotide (AICAR). Binding of PRFAR and IGP stimulates glutaminase activity in the HisH enzyme over 5,000 and 100-fold, respectively, despite the active sites being >25 Å apart. The details of this long-range protein communication process were investigated by solution NMR spectroscopy and CPMG relaxation dispersion experiments. Formation of the heterodimer enzyme results in a reduction in millisecond motions in HisF that extend throughout the protein. Binding of lGP results in an increase in protein-wide millisecond dynamics evidenced as severe NMR line broadening and elevated R _ex values. Together, these data demonstrate a grouping of flexible residues that link the HisF active site with the protein interface to which HisH binds and provide a model for the path of communication between the IGPS active sites.     

Structural elements in IGP synthase exclude water to optimize ammonia transfer

In the complex pathway of histidine biosynthesis, a key branch point linking amino acid and purine biosynthesis is catalyzed by the bifunctional enzyme imidazole glycerol phosphate (IGP) synthase. The first domain of IGP synthase, a triad glutamine amidotransferase, hydrolyzes glutamine to form glutamate and ammonia. Its activity is tightly regulated by the binding of the substrate PRFAR to its partner synthase domain. Recent crystal structures and molecular dynamics simulations strongly suggest that the synthase domain, a (beta/alpha)(8) barrel protein, mediates the insertion of ammonia and ring formation in IGP by channeling ammonia from one remote active site to the other. Here, we combine both mutagenesis experiments and computational investigations to gain insight into the transfer of ammonia and the mechanism of conduction. We discover an alternate route for the entrance of ammonia into the (beta/alpha)(8) barrel and argue that water acts as both agonist and antagonist to the enzymatic function. Our results indicate that the architecture of the two subdomains, most notably the strict conservation of key residues at the interface and within the (beta/alpha)(8) barrel, has been optimized to allow the efficient passage of ammonia, and not water, between the two remote active sites.     

Imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase from Thermotoga maritima. Quaternary structure, steady-state kinetics, and reaction mechanism of the bienzyme complex

Imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase, which links histidine and de novo purine biosynthesis, is a member of the glutamine amidotransferase family. In bacteria, imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase constitutes a bienzyme complex of the glutaminase subunit HisH and the synthase subunit HisF. Nascent ammonia produced by HisH reacts at the active site of HisF with N'-((5'-phosphoribulosyl)formimino)-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-ribonucleotide to yield the products imidazole glycerol phosphate and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribotide. In order to elucidate the interactions between HisH and HisF and the catalytic mechanism of the HisF reaction, the enzymes tHisH and tHisF from Thermotoga maritima were produced in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized. Isolated tHisH showed no detectable glutaminase activity but was stimulated by complex formation with tHisF to which either the product imidazole glycerol phosphate or a substrate analogue were bound. Eight conserved amino acids at the putative active site of tHisF were exchanged by site-directed mutagenesis, and the purified variants were investigated by steady-state kinetics. Aspartate 11 appeared to be essential for the synthase activity both in vitro and in vivo, and aspartate 130 could be partially replaced only by glutamate. The carboxylate groups of these residues could provide general acid/base catalysis in the proposed catalytic mechanism of the synthase reaction.     

Conformational changes in ammonia-channeling glutamine amidotransferases

Glutamine amidotransferases (GATs), which catalyze the synthesis of different aminated products, channel ammonia over 10-40 A from a glutamine substrate at the glutaminase site to an acceptor substrate at the synthase site. Ammonia production usually uses a cysteine-histidine-glutamate triad or a N-terminal cysteine residue. Crystal structures of several amidotransferase ligand complexes, mimicking intermediates along the catalytic cycle, have now been determined. In most cases, acceptor binding triggers glutaminase activation through domain-hinged movements and other conformational changes. Structural information shows how flexible loops of the synthase and glutaminase domains move to shield the two catalytic sites and anchor the substrates, and how the ammonia channel forms and opens or closes.     

Molecular evolution of the histidine biosynthetic pathway

The available sequences of genes encoding the enzymes associated with histidine biosynthesis suggest that this is an ancient metabolic pathway that was assembled prior to the diversification of the Bacteria, Archaea, and Eucarya. Paralogous duplications, gene elongation, and fusion events involving different his genes have played a major role in shaping this biosynthetic route. Evidence that the hisA and the hisF genes and their homologues are the result of two successive duplication events that apparently took place before the separation of the three cellular lineages is extended. These two successive gene duplication events as well as the homology between the hisH genes and the sequences encoding the TrpG-type amidotransferases support the idea that during the early stages of metabolic evolution at least parts of the histidine biosynthetic pathway were mediated by enzymes of broader substrate specificities. Maximum likelihood trees calculated for the available sequences of genes encoding these enzymes have been obtained. Their topologies support the possibility of an evolutionary proximity of archaebacteria with low GC Gram-positive bacteria. This observation is consistent with those detected by other workers using the sequences of heat-shock proteins (HSP70), glutamine synthetases, glutamate dehydrogenases, and carbamoylphosphate synthetases.Abbreviations as amino acid - ORF open reading frame - bp base pair - kb 10³ bp - CarA carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (EC 6.3.5.5) - GAT glutamine amidotransferase - GuaA GMP synthetase (EC 6.3.4.1) - PabA 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate synthase (EC 4.1.3-) - PyrG GTP synthetase (EC 6.3.4.2) - AICAR 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-l--d ribofuranosyl 5-monophosphate - HAL l-histidinal - HOL l-histidinol - HP histidinol phosphate - IAP imidazole acetol-phosphate - IGP imidazole glycerol phosphate - PR phosphoribosyl - PRFAR N-[(5-phosphoribulosyl) formimino]-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide - 5-ProFAR N ¹-[(5-phosphoribosyl) formimino]-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide - PRPP phosphoribosyl-pyrophosphate - RFLP restriction fragment length polymorphism Correspondence to: R. Fani     

Constitutively active glutaminase variants provide insights into the activation mechanism of anthranilate synthase

The glutamine amidotransferase (GATase) family comprises enzyme complexes which consist of glutaminase and synthase subunits that catalyze in a concerted reaction the incorporation of nitrogen within various metabolic pathways. An important feature of GATases is the strong stimulation of glutaminase activity by the associated synthase. To understand the mechanism of this tight activity regulation, we probed by site-directed mutagenesis four residues of the glutaminase subunit TrpG from anthranilate synthase that are located between the catalytic Cys-His-Glu triad and the synthase subunit TrpE. In order to minimize structural perturbations induced by the introduced exchanges, the amino acids from TrpG were substituted with the corresponding residues of the closely related glutaminase HisH from imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase. Steady-state kinetic characterization showed that, in contrast to wild-type TrpG, two TrpG variants with single exchanges constitutively hydrolyzed glutamine in the absence of TrpE. A reaction assay performed with hydroxylamine as a stronger nucleophile replacing water and a filter assay with radiolabeled glutamine indicated that the formation of the thioester intermediate is the rate-limiting step of constitutive glutamine hydrolysis. Molecular dynamics simulations with wild-type TrpG and constitutively active TrpG variants suggest that the introduced amino acid exchanges result in a distance reduction between the active site Cys-His pair, which facilitates the deprotonation of the sulfhydryl group of the catalytic cysteine and thus enables its nucleophilic attack onto the carboxamide group of the glutamine side chain. We propose that native TrpG in the anthranilate synthase complex is activated by a similar mechanism.     

A network of conserved interactions regulates the allosteric signal in a glutamine amidotransferase

We have combined equilibrium and steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations with principal component and correlation analyses to probe the mechanism of allosteric regulation in imidazole glycerol phosphate (IGP) synthase. An evolutionary analysis of IGP synthase revealed a conserved network of interactions leading from the effector binding site to the glutaminase active site, forming conserved communication pathways between the remote active sites. SMD simulations of the undocking of the ribonucleotide effector N1-[(5'-phosphoribulosyl)-formino]-5'-aminoimidazole carboxamide ribonucleotide (PRFAR) resulted in a large scale hinge-opening motion at the interface. Principal component analysis and a correlation analysis of the equilibration protein motion indicate that the dynamics involved in the allosteric transition are mediated by coupled motion between sites that are more than 25 A apart. Furthermore, conserved residues at the substrate-binding site, within the barrel, and at the interface were found to exhibit highly correlated motion during the allosteric transition. The coupled motion between PRFAR unbinding and the directed opening of the interface is interpreted in combination with kinetic assays for the wild-type and mutant systems to develop a model of allosteric regulation in IGP synthase that is monitored and investigated with atomic resolution.     

Domain organization of Salmonella typhimurium formylglycinamide ribonucleotide amidotransferase revealed by X-ray crystallography

Formylglycinamide ribonucleotide amidotransferase (FGAR-AT) catalyzes the ATP-dependent conversion of formylglycinamide ribonucleotide (FGAR) and glutamine to formylglycinamidine ribonucleotide (FGAM), ADP, P(i), and glutamate in the fourth step of the purine biosynthetic pathway. In eukaryotes and Gram-negative bacteria, FGAR-AT is encoded by the purL gene as a multidomain protein with a molecular mass of about 140 kDa. In Gram-positive bacteria and archaebacteria FGAR-AT is a complex of three proteins: PurS, PurL, and PurQ. We have determined the structure of FGAR-AT (PurL) from Salmonella typhimurium at 1.9 A resolution using X-ray crystallography. PurL is the last remaining enzyme in the purine biosynthetic pathway to have its structure determined. The structure reveals four domains: an N-terminal domain structurally homologous to a PurS dimer, a linker region, an FGAM synthetase domain homologous to an aminoimidazole ribonucleotide synthetase (PurM) dimer, and a triad glutaminase domain. The domains are intricately linked by interdomain interactions and peptide connectors. The fold common to PurM and the central region of PurL represents a superfamily for which HypE, SelD, and ThiL are predicted to be members. A structural ADP molecule was found bound to a site related to the putative active site by pseudo-2-fold symmetry and two sulfate ions were found at the putative active site. These observations and the structural similarities between PurM and StPurL were used to model the substrates FGAR and ATP in the StPurL active site. A glutamylthioester intermediate was found in the glutaminase domain at Cys1135. The N-terminal (PurS-like) domain is hypothesized to form the putative channel through which ammonia passes from the glutaminase domain to the FGAM synthetase domain.     

Crystal structure of imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase: a tunnel through a (beta/alpha)8 barrel joins two active sites

BACKGROUND: Imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase catalyzes a two-step reaction of histidine biosynthesis at the bifurcation point with the purine de novo pathway. The enzyme is a new example of intermediate channeling by glutamine amidotransferases in which ammonia generated by hydrolysis of glutamine is channeled to a second active site where it acts as a nucleophile. In this case, ammonia reacts in a cyclase domain to produce imidazole glycerol phosphate and an intermediate of purine biosynthesis. The enzyme is also a potential target for drug and herbicide development since the histidine pathway does not occur in mammals. RESULTS: The 2.1 A crystal structure of imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase from yeast reveals extensive interaction of the glutaminase and cyclase catalytic domains. At the domain interface, the glutaminase active site points into the bottom of the (beta/alpha)(8) barrel of the cyclase domain. An ammonia tunnel through the (beta/alpha)(8) barrel connects the glutaminase docking site at the bottom to the cyclase active site at the top. A conserved "gate" of four charged residues controls access to the tunnel. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first structure in which all the components of the ubiquitous (beta/alpha)(8) barrel fold, top, bottom, and interior, take part in enzymatic function. Intimate contacts between the barrel domain and the glutaminase active site appear to be poised for crosstalk between catalytic centers in response to substrate binding at the cyclase active site. The structure provides a number of potential sites for inhibitor development in the active sites and in a conserved interdomain cavity.     

Occurrence and biosynthesis of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide and N-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)formamide 5'-phosphate in Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum delta(H).

5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (ZMP) and N-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)formamide 5'-phosphate (FAR-P) have been identified as products of the metabolism of ATP and 5-phospho-alpha-D-ribosyl diphosphate by Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum delta(H), a member of the domain Archaea. Evidence indicates that the first three steps in the pathway to the formation of these compounds are the same as the first three steps of histidine biosynthesis and lead to the generation of pro-phosphoribosyl formimino-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (5'-proFAR). The 5'-proFAR then undergoes hydrolysis to ZMP and FAR-P. The reaction was detected by an unexpected high concentration of ZMP in cell extracts of M. thermoautotrophicum delta(H).     

Activation and coupling of the glutaminase and synthase reaction of glutamate synthase is mediated by E1013 of the ferredoxin-dependent enzyme, belonging to loop 4 of the synthase domain

Crystal structures of glutamate synthase suggested that a conserved glutamyl residue of the synthase domain (E1013 of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase, FdGltS) may play a key role in activating glutamine binding and hydrolysis and ammonia transfer to the synthase site in this amidotransferase, in response to the ligation and redox state of the synthase site. The E1013D, N, and A, variants of FdGltS were overproduced in Escherichia coli cells, purified, and characterized. The amino acyl substitutions had no effect on the reactivity of the synthase site nor on the interaction with ferredoxin. On the contrary, a dramatic decrease of activity was observed with the D (approximately 100-fold), N and A (approximately 10,000-fold) variants, mainly due to an effect on the maximum velocity of the reaction. The E1013D variant showed coupling between glutamine hydrolysis at the glutaminase site and 2-oxoglutarate-dependent L-glutamate synthesis at the synthase site, but a sigmoid dependence of initial velocity on L-glutamine concentration. The E1013N variant exhibited hyperbolic kinetics, but the velocity of glutamine hydrolysis was twice that of glutamate synthesis from 2-oxoglutarate at the synthase site. These results are consistent with the proposed role of E1013 in signaling the presence of 2-oxoglutarate (and reducing equivalents) at the synthase site to the glutaminase site in order to activate it and to promote ammonia transfer to the synthase site through the ammonia tunnel. The sigmoid dependence of the initial velocity of the glutamate synthase reaction of the E1013D mutant on glutamine concentration provides evidence for a participation of glutamine in the activation of glutamate synthase during the catalytic cycle.     

Dual role for the glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase ammonia channel. Interdomain signaling and intermediate channeling

Glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) amidotransferase catalyzes the first reaction of de novo purine nucleotide synthesis in two steps at two sites. Glutamine is hydrolyzed to glutamate plus NH(3) at an N-terminal glutaminase site, and NH(3) is transferred through a 20-A hydrophobic channel to a distal PRPP site for synthesis of phosphoribosylamine. Binding of PRPP is required to activate the glutaminase site (termed interdomain signaling) to prevent the wasteful hydrolysis of glutamine in the absence of phosphoribosylamine synthesis. Mutations were constructed to analyze the function of the NH(3) channel. In the wild type enzyme, NH(3) derived from glutamine hydrolysis was transferred to the PRPP site, and little or none was released. Replacement of Leu-415 at the PRPP end of the channel with an alanine resulted in a leaky channel and release of NH(3) to the solvent. Mutations in five amino acids that line the channel and two other residues required for the reorganization of phosphoribosyltransferase domain "flexible loop" that leads to formation of the channel perturbed channel function as well as interdomain signaling. The data emphasize the role of the NH(3) channel in coupling interdomain signaling and NH(3) transfer.     

Substrate-induced conformational changes in Plasmodium falciparum guanosine monophosphate synthetase

GMP synthetase is a glutamine amidotransferase that incorporates ammonia derived from glutamine into the nucleotide xanthosine 5'-monophosphate (XMP) to form guanosine 5'-monophosphate (GMP). Functional coordination of domains in glutamine amidotransferases leads to upregulation of glutamine hydrolysis in the presence of acceptor substrates and is a common feature in this class of enzymes. We have shown earlier that binding of substrates to the acceptor domain of Plasmodium falciparum GMP synthetase (PfGMPS) leads to enhancement in both glutaminase activity and rate of glutaminase inactivation, by the irreversible inhibitors acivicin and diazo-oxonorleucine [Bhat JY et al. (2008) Biochem J409, 263-273], a process that must be driven by conformational alterations. In this paper, through the combined use of biochemical assays, optical spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that PfGMPS undergoes conformational transitions upon binding of substrates to the acceptor domain. Limited proteolysis and hydrogen-deuterium exchange in conjunction with mass spectrometry unveil region-specific conformational changes in the ATP + XMP bound state of PfGMPS. Decreased accessibility of R294 and K428 residues to trypsin in the ATP pyrophosphatase domain and reduced deuterium incorporation in the 143-155 region, pertaining to the glutaminase domain, suggest that in PfGMPS ligand-induced conformational changes are not only local but also transmitted over a long range across the domains. Overall, these results provide a detailed understanding of the substrate-induced changes in PfGMPS that could be essential for the overall catalytic process.     

Mechanism for acivicin inactivation of triad glutamine amidotransferases

Acivicin [(alphaS,5S)-alpha-amino-3-chloro-4,5-dihydro-5-isoxazoleacetic acid] was investigated as an inhibitor of the triad glutamine amidotransferases, IGP synthase and GMP synthetase. Nucleophilic substitution of the chlorine atom in acivicin results in the formation of an imine-thioether adduct at the active site cysteine. Cys 77 was identified as the site of modification in the heterodimeric IGPS from Escherichia coli (HisHF) by tryptic digest and FABMS. Distinctions in the glutaminase domains of IGPS from E. coli, the bifunctional protein from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (HIS7), and E. coli GMPS were revealed by the differential rates of inactivation. While the ammonia-dependent turnover was unaffected by acivicin, the glutamine-dependent reaction was inhibited with unit stoichiometry. In analogy to the conditional glutaminase activity seen in IGPS and GMPS, the rates of inactivation were accelerated > or =25-fold when a nucleotide substrate (or analogue) was present. The specificity (k(inact)/K(i)app) for acivicin is on the same order of magnitude as the natural substrate glutamine in all three enzymes. The (alphaS,5R) diastereomer of acivicin was tested under identical conditions as acivicin and showed little inhibitory effect on the enzymes indicating that acivicin binds in the glutamine reactive site in a specific conformation. The data indicate that acivicin undergoes a glutamine amidotransferase mechanism-based covalent bond formation in the presence of nucleotide substrates or products. Acivicin and its (alphaS,5R) diastereomer were modeled in the glutaminase active site of GMPS and CPS to confirm that the binding orientation of the dihydroisoxazole ring is identical in all three triad glutamine amidotransferases. Stabilization of the imine-thioether intermediate by the oxyanion hole in triad glutamine amidotransferases appears to confer the high degree of specificity for acivicin inhibition and relates to a common mechanism for inactivation.     

Evidence that the folate-requiring enzymes of de novo purine biosynthesis are encoded by individual mRNAs

Isolation of the mRNAs encoding for the three folate-requiring enzymes involved in de novo purine biosynthesis followed by their in vitro translation resulted in three separate proteins electrophoretically identical with those previously isolated. The three enzymes are glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide transformylase, and 5,10-methenyl-, 5,10-methylene-, and 10-formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase. Thus these enzymes do not appear to be derived from large multifunctional proteins that are then subject to proteolysis in vivo or during in vitro purification. The levels of these enzymatic activities were increased by approximately 2-fold after raising the concentration of protein in the chicken's diet. The observed response is similar to that noted for glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase, the presumed rate-limiting enzymatic activity for this pathway. For 5-amino-imidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide transformylase and the trifunctional synthetase but not glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase the increase in enzymatic activity correlates with higher mRNA levels.