Identification of residues in the human guanylate-binding protein 1 critical for nucleotide binding and cooperative GTP hydrolysis

The guanylate-binding proteins (GBPs) form a group of interferon-gamma inducible GTP-binding proteins which belong to the family of dynamin-related proteins. Like other members of this family, human guanylate-binding protein 1 (hGBP1) shows nucleotide-dependent oligomerisation that stimulates the GTPase activity of the protein. A unique feature of the GBPs is their ability to hydrolyse GTP to GDP and GMP. In order to elucidate the relationship between these findings, we designed point mutants in the phosphate-binding loop (P-loop) as well as in the switch I and switch II regions of the protein based on the crystal structure of hGBP1. These mutant proteins were analysed for their interaction with guanine nucleotides labeled with a fluorescence dye and for their ability to hydrolyse GTP in a cooperative manner. We identified mutations of amino acid residues that decrease GTPase activity by orders of magnitude a part of which are conserved in GTP-binding proteins. In addition, mutants in the P-loop were characterized that strongly impair binding of nucleotide. In consequence, together with altered GTPase activity and given cellular nucleotide concentrations this results in hGBP1 mutants prevailingly resting in the nucleotide-free (K51A and S52N) or the GTP bound form (R48A), respectively. Using size-exclusion chromatography and analytical ultracentrifugation we addressed the impact on protein oligomerisation. In summary, mutants of hGBP1 were identified and biochemically characterized providing hGBP1 locked in defined states in order to investigate their functional role in future cell biology studies.