Inositol hexakisphosphate kinase products contain diphosphate and triphosphate groups.

Eukaryotic cells produce a family of diverse inositol polyphosphates (IPs) containing pyrophosphate bonds. Inositol pyrophosphates have been linked to a wide range of cellular functions, and there is growing evidence that they act as second messengers. Inositol hexakisphosphate kinase (IP6K) is able to convert the natural substrates inositol pentakisphosphate (IP 5) and inositol hexakisphosphate (IP 6) to several products with an increasing number of phospho-anhydride bonds. In this study, we structurally analyzed IPs synthesized by three mammalian isoforms of IP6K from IP 5 and IP 6. The NMR and mass analyses showed a number of products with diverse, yet specific, stereochemistry, defined by the architecture of IP6K's active site. We now report that IP6K synthesizes both pyrophosphate (diphospho) as well as triphospho groups on the inositol ring. All three IP6K isoforms share the same activities both in vitro and in vivo.

Structural and biochemical analysis of the Rv0805 cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Cyclic nucleotide monophosphate (cNMP) hydrolysis in bacteria and eukaryotes is brought about by distinct cNMP phosphodiesterases (PDEs). Since these enzymes differ in amino acid sequence and properties, they have evolved by convergent evolution. Cyclic NMP PDEs cleave cNMPs to NMPs, and the Rv0805 gene product is, to date, the only identifiable cNMP PDE in the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We have shown that Rv0805 is a cAMP/cGMP dual specificity PDE, and is unrelated in amino acid sequence to the mammalian cNMP PDEs. Rv0805 is a dimeric, Fe(3+)-Mn(2+) binuclear PDE, and mutational analysis demonstrated that the active site metals are co-ordinated by conserved aspartate, histidine and asparagine residues. We report here the structure of the catalytic core of Rv0805, which is distantly related to the calcineurin-like phosphatases. The crystal structure of the Rv0805 dimer shows that the active site metals contribute to dimerization and thus play an additional structural role apart from their involvement in catalysis. We also present the crystal structures of the Asn97Ala mutant protein that lacks one of the Mn(2+) co-ordinating residues as well as the Asp66Ala mutant that has a compromised cAMP hydrolytic activity, providing a structural basis for the catalytic properties of these mutant proteins. A molecule of phosphate is bound in a bidentate manner at the active site of the Rv0805 wild-type protein, and cacodylate occupies a similar position in the crystal structure of the Asp66Ala mutant protein. A unique substrate binding pocket in Rv0805 was identified by computational docking studies, and the role of the His140 residue in interacting with cAMP was validated through mutational analysis. This report on the first structure of a bacterial cNMP PDE thus significantly extends our molecular understanding of cAMP hydrolysis in class III PDEs.

The first phospholipase inhibitor from the serum of Vipera ammodytes ammodytes.

Ammodytoxins are neurotoxic secretory phospholipase A(2) molecules, some of the most toxic components of the long-nosed viper (Vipera ammodytes ammodytes) venom. Envenomation by this and by closely related vipers is quite frequent in southern parts of Europe and serotherapy is used in the most severe cases. Because of occasional complications, alternative medical treatment of envenomation is needed. In the present study, ammodytoxin inhibitor was purified from the serum of V. a. ammodytes using two affinity procedures and a gel exclusion chromatography step. The ammodytoxin inhibitor from V. a. ammodytes serum consists of 23- and 25-kDa glycoproteins that form an oligomer, probably a tetramer, of about 100 kDa. N-terminal sequencing and immunological analysis revealed that both types of subunit are very similar to gamma-type secretory phospholipase A(2) inhibitors. The ammodytoxin inhibitor from V. a. ammodytes serum is a potent inhibitor of phospholipase activity and hence probably also the neurotoxicity of ammodytoxins. Discovery of the novel natural inhibitor of these potent secretory phospholipase A(2) toxins opens up prospects for the development of new types of small peptide inhibitors for use in regulating the physiological and pathological activities of secretory phospholipases A(2).