| Abstract: | The endogenous phosphoserine residue in porcine pepsinogen has been titrated with use of phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (31P NMR). It has an observed pKa2 of 6.7 and a narrow line width (congruent to 10 Hz). The phosphate can be readily removed by an acid phosphatase from potato; however, it is resistant to hydrolysis by several alkaline phosphatases. The X-ray crystal structure of porcine pepsinogen at 1.8-A resolution James, M. N. G., & Sielecki, A. (1986) Nature (London) 319, 33-38] shows a rather weak and diffuse region of electron density in the vicinity of the phosphorylated serine residue. This suggests considerable dynamic mobility or conformational disorder of the phosphate. In order to define more fully this behavior, the NMR data have been used to corroborate these crystallographic results. All these physical data are consistent with a highly mobile phosphoserine residue on the surface of the zymogen and freely exposed to solvent. In addition, certain properties of this phosphoserine moiety on pepsinogen are similar to those of one of the phosphorylated residues of ovalbumin. The possible significance of this is discussed. |
