Structural and functional characterization of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis uridine monophosphate kinase: insights into the allosteric regulation.

Nucleoside Monophosphate Kinases (NMPKs) family are key enzymes in nucleotide metabolism. Bacterial UMPKs depart from the main superfamily of NMPKs. Having no eukaryotic counterparts they represent attractive therapeutic targets. They are regulated by GTP and UTP, while showing different mechanisms in Gram(+), Gram(-) and archaeal bacteria. In this work, we have characterized the mycobacterial UMPK (UMPKmt) combining enzymatic and structural investigations with site-directed mutagenesis. UMPKmt exhibits cooperativity toward ATP and an allosteric regulation by GTP and UTP. The crystal structure of the complex of UMPKmt with GTP solved at 2.5 Å, was merely identical to the modelled apo-form, in agreement with SAXS experiments. Only a small stretch of residues was affected upon nucleotide binding, pointing out the role of macromolecular dynamics rather than major structural changes in the allosteric regulation of bacterial UMPKs. We further probe allosteric regulation by site-directed mutagenesis. In particular, a key residue involved in the allosteric regulation of this enzyme was identified.

Organised genome dynamics in the Escherichia coli species results in highly diverse adaptive paths.

The Escherichia coli species represents one of the best-studied model organisms, but also encompasses a variety of commensal and pathogenic strains that diversify by high rates of genetic change. We uniformly (re-) annotated the genomes of 20 commensal and pathogenic E. coli strains and one strain of E. fergusonii (the closest E. coli related species), including seven that we sequenced to completion. Within the approximately 18,000 families of orthologous genes, we found approximately 2,000 common to all strains. Although recombination rates are much higher than mutation rates, we show, both theoretically and using phylogenetic inference, that this does not obscure the phylogenetic signal, which places the B2 phylogenetic group and one group D strain at the basal position. Based on this phylogeny, we inferred past evolutionary events of gain and loss of genes, identifying functional classes under opposite selection pressures. We found an important adaptive role for metabolism diversification within group B2 and Shigella strains, but identified few or no extraintestinal virulence-specific genes, which could render difficult the development of a vaccine against extraintestinal infections. Genome flux in E. coli is confined to a small number of conserved positions in the chromosome, which most often are not associated with integrases or tRNA genes. Core genes flanking some of these regions show higher rates of recombination, suggesting that a gene, once acquired by a strain, spreads within the species by homologous recombination at the flanking genes. Finally, the genome's long-scale structure of recombination indicates lower recombination rates, but not higher mutation rates, at the terminus of replication. The ensuing effect of background selection and biased gene conversion may thus explain why this region is A+T-rich and shows high sequence divergence but low sequence polymorphism. Overall, despite a very high gene flow, genes co-exist in an organised genome.

Diacylglyceride kinases, sphingosine kinases and NAD kinases: distant relatives of 6-phosphofructokinases.

Diacylglyceride kinases, sphingosine kinases, NAD kinases and 6-phosphofructokinases are thought to be related despite large evolution of their sequences. Discovery of a common signature has led to the suggestion that they possess a similar phosphate-donor-binding site and a similar phosphorylation mechanism. The substrate- and allosteric-binding sites are much more divergent and their delineation remains to be determined experimentally.

Structural and functional consequences of single amino acid substitutions in the pyrimidine base binding pocket of Escherichia coli CMP kinase.

Bacterial CMP kinases are specific for CMP and dCMP, whereas the related eukaryotic NMP kinase phosphorylates CMP and UMP with similar efficiency. To explain these differences in structural terms, we investigated the contribution of four key amino acids interacting with the pyrimidine ring of CMP (Ser36, Asp132, Arg110 and Arg188) to the stability, catalysis and substrate specificity of Escherichia coli CMP kinase. In contrast to eukaryotic UMP/CMP kinases, which interact with the nucleobase via one or two water molecules, bacterial CMP kinase has a narrower NMP-binding pocket and a hydrogen-bonding network involving the pyrimidine moiety specific for the cytosine nucleobase. The side chains of Arg110 and Ser36 cannot establish hydrogen bonds with UMP, and their substitution by hydrophobic amino acids simultaneously affects the K(m) of CMP/dCMP and the k(cat) value. Substitution of Ser for Asp132 results in a moderate decrease in stability without significant changes in K(m) value for CMP and dCMP. Replacement of Arg188 with Met does not affect enzyme stability but dramatically decreases the k(cat)/K(m) ratio compared with wild-type enzyme. This effect might be explained by opening of the enzyme/nucleotide complex, so that the sugar no longer interacts with Asp185. The reaction rate for different modified CMP kinases with ATP as a variable substrate indicated that none of changes induced by these amino acid substitutions was 'propagated' to the ATP subsite. This 'modular' behavior of E. coli CMP kinase is unique in comparison with other NMP kinases.

New synchrotron radiation circular dichroism end-station on DISCO beamline at SOLEIL synchrotron for biomolecular analysis.

The novel Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism (SRCD) technique is becoming a new tool of investigation for the molecular structures of biomolecules, like proteins, carbohydrates or others bio-materials. Here, we describe the characteristics of a new experimental end-station for circular dichroism studies, in construction on DISCO beamline at SOLEIL synchrotron (Saint-Aubin, France). This experimental end-station will be an open facility for the community of researchers in structural biology. In order to show the kind of information accessible with this type of technique, we give an example: the conformational study of the galactose mutarotase from Escherichia coli, an enzyme involved in the galactose metabolism. This study was made using an operational SRCD station available at SRS (Daresbury Laboratory, UK).

Calorimetric and crystallographic analysis of the oligomeric structure of Escherichia coli GMP kinase.

Guanosine monophosphate kinases (GMPKs), which catalyze the phosphorylation of GMP and dGMP to their diphosphate form, have been characterized as monomeric enzymes in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Here, we report that GMPK from Escherichia coli (ecGMPK) assembles in solution and in the crystal as several different oligomers. Thermodynamic analysis of ecGMPK using differential scanning calorimetry shows that the enzyme is in equilibrium between a dimer and higher order oligomers, whose relative amounts depend on protein concentration, ionic strength, and the presence of ATP. Crystallographic structures of ecGMPK in the apo, GMP and GDP-bound forms were solved at 3.2A, 2.9A and 2.4A resolution, respectively. ecGMPK forms a hexamer with D3 symmetry in all crystal forms, in which the two nucleotide-binding domains are able to undergo closure comparable to that of monomeric GMPKs. The 2-fold and 3-fold interfaces involve a 20-residue C-terminal extension and a sequence signature, respectively, that are missing from monomeric eukaryotic GMPKs, explaining why ecGMPK forms oligomers. These signatures are found in GMPKs from proteobacteria, some of which are human pathogens. GMPKs from these bacteria are thus likely to form the same quaternary structures. The shift of the thermodynamic equilibrium towards the dimer at low ecGMPK concentration together with the observation that inter-subunit interactions partially occlude the ATP-binding site in the hexameric structure suggest that the dimer may be the active species at physiological enzyme concentration.

Sugar specificity of bacterial CMP kinases as revealed by crystal structures and mutagenesis of Escherichia coli enzyme.

Bacterial cytidine monophosphate (CMP) kinases are characterised by an insert enlarging their CMP binding domain, and by their particular substrate specificity. Thus, both CMP and 2'-deoxy-CMP (dCMP) are good phosphate acceptors for the CMP kinase from Escherichia coli (E. coli CMPK), whereas eukaryotic UMP/CMP kinases phosphorylate the deoxynucleotides with very low efficiency. Four crystal structures of E. coli CMPK complexed with nucleoside monophosphates differing in their sugar moiety were solved. Both structures with CMP or dCMP show interactions with the pentose that were not described so far. These interactions are lost with the poorer substrates AraCMP and 2',3'-dideoxy-CMP. Comparison of all four structures shows that the pentose hydroxyls are involved in ligand-induced movements of enzyme domains. It also gives a structural basis of the mechanism by which either ribose or deoxyribose can be accommodated. In parallel, for the four nucleotides the kinetic results of the wild-type enzyme and of three structure-based variants are presented. The phosphorylation rate is significantly decreased when either of the two pentose interacting residues is mutated. One of these is an arginine that is highly conserved in all known nucleoside monophosphate kinases. In contrast, the other residue, Asp185, is typical of bacterial CMP kinases. It interacts with Ser101, the only residue conserved in all CMP binding domain inserts. Mutating Ser101 reduces CMP phosphorylation only moderately, but dramatically reduces dCMP phosphorylation. This is the first experimental evidence of a catalytic role involving the characteristic insert of bacterial CMP kinases. Furthermore, this role concerns only dCMP phosphorylation, a feature of this family of enzymes.

The two authentic methionine aminopeptidase genes are differentially expressed in Bacillus subtilis.

BACKGROUND: Two putative methionine aminopeptidase genes, map (essential) and yflG (non-essential), were identified in the genome sequence of Bacillus subtilis. We investigated whether they can function as methionine aminopeptidases and further explored possible reasons for their essentiality or dispensability in B. subtilis. RESULTS: In silico analysis of MAP evolution uncovered a coordinated pattern of MAP and deformylase that did not correlate with the pattern of 16S RNA evolution. Biochemical assays showed that both MAP (MAP_Bs) and YflG (YflG_Bs) from B. subtilis overproduced in Escherichia coli and obtained as pure proteins exhibited a methionine aminopeptidase activity in vitro. Compared with MAP_Bs, YflG_Bs was approximately two orders of magnitude more efficient when assayed on synthetic peptide substrates. Both map and yflG genes expressed in multi-copy plasmids could complement the function of a defective map gene in the chromosomes of both E. coli and B. subtilis. In contrast, lacZ gene transcriptional fusions showed that the promoter activity of map was 50 to 100-fold higher than that of yflG. Primer extension analysis detected the transcription start site of the yflG promoter. Further work identified that YvoA acted as a possible weak repressor of yflG expression in B. subtilis in vivo. CONCLUSION: Both MAP_Bs and YflG_Bs are functional methionine aminopeptidases in vitro and in vivo. The high expression level of map and low expression level of yflG may account for their essentiality and dispensality in B. subtilis, respectively, when cells are grown under laboratory conditions. Their difference in activity on synthetic substrates suggests that they have different protein targets in vivo.

Deciphering the function of an ORF: Salmonella enterica DeoM protein is a new mutarotase specific for deoxyribose.

We identified in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi a cluster of four genes encoding a deoxyribokinase (DeoK), a putative permease (DeoP), a repressor (DeoQ), and an open reading frame encoding a 337 amino acid residues protein of unknown function. We show that the latter protein, called DeoM, is a hexamer whose synthesis is increased by a factor over 5 after induction with deoxyribose. The CD spectrum of the purified recombinant protein indicated a dominant contribution of betatype secondary structure and a small content of alpha-helix. Temperature and guanidinium hydrochloride induced denaturation of DeoM indicated that the hexamer dissociation and monomer unfolding are coupled processes. DeoM exhibits 12.5% and 15% sequence identity with galactose mutarotase from Lactococcus lactis and respectively Escherichia coli, which suggested that these three proteins share similar functions. Polarimetric experiments demonstrated that DeoM is a mutarotase with high specificity for deoxyribose. Site-directed mutagenesis of His183 in DeoM, corresponding to a catalytically active residue in GalM, yielded an almost inactive deoxyribose mutarotase. DeoM was crystallized and diffraction data collected for two crystal systems, confirmed its hexameric state. The possible role of the protein and of the entire gene cluster is discussed in connection with the energy metabolism of S. enterica under particular growth conditions.

Structural and nucleotide-binding properties of YajQ and YnaF, two Escherichia coli proteins of unknown function.

Structural genomics is a new approach in functional assignment of proteins identified via whole-genome sequencing programs. Its rationale is that nonhomologous proteins performing similar or related biological functions might have similar tertiary structure. We used dye pseudoaffinity chromatography, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry to identify two novel Escherichia coli nucleotide-binding proteins, YnaF and YajQ. YnaF exhibited significant sequence identity with MJ0577, an ATP-binding protein from a hyperthermophile (Methanococcus jannaschii), and with UspA, a protein from Haemophilus influenzae that belongs to the Universal Stress Protein family. YnaF conserves the ATP-binding site and the dimeric structure observed in the crystal of MJ0577. The protein YajQ, present in many bacterial genomes, is missing in eukaryotes. In the absence of significant similarities of YajQ to any solved structure, we determined its structural and ligand-binding properties by NMR and isothermal titration calorimetry. We demonstrate that YajQ is composed of two domains, each centered on a beta-sheet, that are connected by two helical segments. NMR studies, corroborated with local sequence conservation among YajQ homologs in various bacteria, indicate that one of the beta-sheets is mostly involved in biological activity.

Staphylococcus aureus FepA and FepB proteins drive heme iron utilization in Escherichia coli.

EfeUOB-like tripartite systems are widespread in bacteria and in many cases they are encoded by genes organized into iron-regulated operons. They consist of: EfeU, a protein similar to the yeast iron permease Ftrp1; EfeO, an extracytoplasmic protein of unknown function and EfeB, also an extracytoplasmic protein with heme peroxidase activity, belonging to the DyP family. Many bacterial EfeUOB systems have been implicated in iron uptake, but a prefential iron source remains undetermined. Nevertheless, in the case of Escherichia coli, the EfeUOB system has been shown to recognize heme and to allow extracytoplasmic heme iron extraction via a deferrochelation reaction. Given the high level of sequence conservations between EfeUOB orthologs, we hypothesized that heme might be the physiological iron substrate for the other orthologous systems. To test this hypothesis, we undertook characterization of the Staphylococcus aureus FepABC system. Results presented here indicate: i) that the S. aureus FepB protein binds both heme and PPIX with high affinity, like EfeB, the E. coli ortholog; ii) that it has low peroxidase activity, comparable to that of EfeB; iii) that both FepA and FepB drive heme iron utilization, and both are required for this activity and iv) that the E. coli FepA ortholog (EfeO) cannot replace FepA in FepB-driven iron release from heme indicating protein specificity in these activities. Our results show that the function in heme iron extraction is conserved in the two orthologous systems.

Structural and functional characterization of Escherichia coli UMP kinase in complex with its allosteric regulator GTP.

Bacterial UMP kinases are essential enzymes involved in the multistep synthesis of UTP. They are hexamers regulated by GTP (allosteric activator) and UTP (inhibitor). We describe here the 2.8 angstroms crystal structure of Escherichia coli UMP kinase bound to GTP. The GTP-binding site, situated at 15 angstroms from the UMP-binding site and at 24 angstroms from the ATP-binding site, is delineated by two contiguous dimers. The overall structure, as compared with those bound to UMP, UDP, or UTP, shows a rearrangement of its quaternary structure: GTP induces an 11 degrees opening of the UMP kinase dimer, resulting in a tighter dimer-dimer interaction. A nucleotide-free UMP kinase dimer has an intermediate opening. Superposition of our structure with that of archaeal UMP kinases, which are also hexamers, shows that a loop appears to hamper any GTP binding in archeal enzymes. This would explain the absence of activating effect of GTP on this group of UMP kinases. Among GTP-binding residues, the Asp-93 is the most conserved in bacterial UMP kinases. In the previously published structures of E. coli UMP kinase, this residue was shown to be involved in hydrogen bonds between the subunits of a dimer. Its substitution by an alanine decreases the cooperativity for UTP binding and suppresses the reversal by GTP of UTP inhibition. This demonstrates that the previously described mutual exclusion of these two nucleotides is mediated by Asp-93.

The CymR regulator in complex with the enzyme CysK controls cysteine metabolism in Bacillus subtilis.

Several enzymes have evolved as sensors in signal transduction pathways to control gene expression, thereby allowing bacteria to adapt efficiently to environmental changes. We recently identified the master regulator of cysteine metabolism in Bacillus subtilis, CymR, which belongs to the poorly characterized Rrf2 family of regulators. We now report that the signal transduction mechanism controlling CymR activity in response to cysteine availability involves the formation of a stable complex with CysK, a key enzyme for cysteine biosynthesis. We carried out a comprehensive quantitative characterization of this regulator-enzyme interaction by surface plasmon resonance and analytical ultracentrifugation. We also showed that O-acetylserine plays a dual role as a substrate of CysK and as an effector modulating the CymR-CysK complex formation. The ability of B. subtilis CysK to bind to CymR appears to be correlated to the loss of its capacity to form a cysteine synthase complex with CysE. We propose an original model, supported by the determination of the intracellular concentrations of the different partners, by which CysK positively regulates CymR in sensing the bacterial cysteine pool.

Regulatory mechanisms differ in UMP kinases from gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.

In this work, we examined the regulation by GTP and UTP of the UMP kinases from eight bacterial species. The enzyme from Gram-positive organisms exhibited cooperative kinetics with ATP as substrate. GTP decreased this cooperativity and increased the affinity for ATP. UTP had the opposite effect, as it decreased the enzyme affinity for ATP. The nucleotide analogs 5-bromo-UTP and 5-iodo-UTP were 5-10 times stronger inhibitors than the parent compound. On the other hand, UMP kinases from the Gram-negative organisms did not show cooperativity in substrate binding and catalysis. Activation by GTP resulted mainly from the reversal of inhibition caused by excess UMP, and inhibition by UTP was accompanied by a strong increase in the apparent K(m) for UMP. Altogether, these results indicate that, depending on the bacteria considered, GTP and UTP interact with different enzyme recognition sites. In Gram-positive bacteria, GTP and UTP bind to a single site or largely overlapping sites, shifting the T R equilibrium to either the R or T form, a scenario corresponding to almost all regulatory proteins, commonly called K systems. In Gram-negative organisms, the GTP-binding site corresponds to the unique allosteric site of the Gram-positive bacteria. In contrast, UTP interacts cooperatively with a site that overlaps the catalytic center, i.e. the UMP-binding site and part of the ATP-binding site. These characteristics make UTP an original regulator of UMP kinases from Gram-negative organisms, beyond the common scheme of allosteric control.

Structure of Escherichia coli UMP kinase differs from that of other nucleoside monophosphate kinases and sheds new light on enzyme regulation.

Bacterial UMP kinases are essential enzymes involved in the multistep synthesis of nucleoside triphosphates. They are hexamers regulated by the allosteric activator GTP and inhibited by UTP. We solved the crystal structure of Escherichia coli UMP kinase bound to the UMP substrate (2.3 A resolution), the UDP product (2.6 A), or UTP (2.45 A). The monomer fold, unrelated to that of other nucleoside monophosphate kinases, belongs to the carbamate kinase-like superfamily. However, the phosphate acceptor binding cleft and subunit assembly are characteristic of UMP kinase. Interactions with UMP explain the high specificity for this natural substrate. UTP, previously described as an allosteric inhibitor, was unexpectedly found in the phosphate acceptor site, suggesting that it acts as a competitive inhibitor. Site-directed mutagenesis of residues Thr-138 and Asn-140, involved in both uracil recognition and active site interaction within the hexamer, decreased the activation by GTP and inhibition by UTP. These experiments suggest a cross-talk mechanism between enzyme subunits involved in cooperative binding at the phosphate acceptor site and in allosteric regulation by GTP. As bacterial UMP kinases have no counterpart in eukaryotes, the information provided here could help the design of new antibiotics.

Comparative modelling and immunochemical reactivity of Escherichia coli UMP kinase.

Bacterial UMP kinases do not exhibit any sequence homology with other nucleoside monophosphate kinases described so far, and appear under oligomeric forms, submitted to complex regulation by nucleotides. We propose here a structural model of UMP kinase from Escherichia coli based on the conservation of the fold of carbamate kinase whose crystal structure was recently solved. Despite sequence identity of only 18% over 203 amino acids, alignment of UMP kinase from E. coli with carbamate kinase from Enterococcus faecalis by hydrophobic cluster analysis and threading suggested the conservation of the overall structure, except for a small subdomain (absent in UMP kinase). The modelled dimer suggested conservation of the dimer interface observed in carbamate kinase while interaction of UMP kinase with a monoclonal antibody (Mab 44-2) suggests a three in-plane dimer subunit arrangement. The model was analyzed in light of various modified forms of UMP kinase obtained by site-directed mutagenesis.

Use of deoxyribose by intestinal and extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli strains: a metabolic adaptation involved in competitiveness.

We showed that the deoK operon, which confers the ability to use deoxyribose as a carbon source, is more common among pathogenic than commensal Escherichia coli strains. The expression of the deoK operon increases the competitiveness of clinical isolates, suggesting that this biochemical characteristic plays a role in host infectivity.

Reaction of human UMP-CMP kinase with natural and analog substrates.

UMP-CMP kinase catalyses an important step in the phosphorylation of UTP, CTP and dCTP. It is also involved in the necessary phosphorylation by cellular kinases of nucleoside analogs used in antiviral therapies. The reactivity of human UMP-CMP kinase towards natural substrates and nucleotide analogs was reexamined. The expression of the recombinant enzyme and conditions for stability of the enzyme were improved. Substrate inhibition was observed for UMP and CMP at concentrations higher than 0.2 mm, but not for dCMP. The antiviral analog l-3TCMP was found to be an efficient substrate phosphorylated into l-3TCDP by human UMP-CMP kinase. However, in the reverse reaction, the enzyme did not catalyse the addition of the third phosphate to l-3TCDP, which was rather an inhibitor. By molecular modelling, l-3TCMP was built in the active site of the enzyme from Dictyostelium. Human UMP-CMP kinase has a relaxed enantiospecificity for the nucleoside monophosphate acceptor site, but it is restricted to d-nucleotides at the donor site.

Regulation of expression of the 2-deoxy-D-ribose utilization regulon, deoQKPX, from Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium.

Salmonella enterica, in contrast to Escherichia coli K12, can use 2-deoxy-D-ribose as the sole carbon source. The genetic determinants for this capacity in S. enterica serovar Typhimurium include four genes, of which three, deoK, deoP, and deoX, constitute an operon. The fourth, deoQ, is transcribed in the opposite direction. The deoK gene encodes deoxyribokinase. In silico analyses indicated that deoP encodes a permease and deoQ encodes a regulatory protein of the deoR family. The deoX gene product showed no match to known proteins in the databases. Deletion analyses showed that both a functional deoP gene and a functional deoX gene were required for optimal utilization of deoxyribose. Using gene fusion technology, we observed that deoQ and the deoKPX operon were transcribed from divergent promoters located in the 324-bp intercistronic region between deoQ and deoK. The deoKPX promoter was 10-fold stronger than the deoQ promoter, and expression was negatively regulated by DeoQ as well as by DeoR, the repressor of the deoxynucleoside catabolism operon. Transcription of deoKPX but not of deoQ was regulated by catabolite repression. Primer extension analysis identified the transcriptional start points of both promoters and showed that induction by deoxyribose occurred at the level of transcription initiation. Gel retardation experiments with purified DeoQ illustrated that it binds independently to tandem operator sites within the deoQ and deoK promoter regions with K(d) values of 54 and 2.4 nM, respectively.

Insight into the activation mechanism of Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase by calmodulin using fluorescence spectroscopy.

The interaction of the adenylate cyclase catalytic domain (AC) of the Bordetella pertussis major exotoxin with its activator calmodulin (CaM) was studied by time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy using three fluorescent groups located in different regions of AC: tryptophan residues (W69 and W242), a nucleotide analogue (3'-anthraniloyl-2'-deoxyadenosine 5'-triphosphate, Ant-dATP) and a cysteine-specific probe (acrylodan). CaM binding elicited large changes in the dynamics of W242, which dominates the fluorescence emission of both AC and AC-CaM, similar to that observed for isolated CaM-binding sequences of different lengths [Bouhss, A., Vincent, M., Munier, H., Gilles, A.M., Takahashi, M., Bârzu, O., Danchin, A. & Gallay, J. (1996) Eur. J. Biochem.237, 619-628]. In contrast, Ant-dATP remains completely immobile and inaccessible to the solvent in both the AC and AC-CaM nucleotide-binding sites. As AC contains no cysteine residue, a single-Cys mutant at position 75 was constructed which allowed labeling of the catalytic domain with acrylodan. Its environment is strongly apolar and rigid, and only slightly affected by CaM. The protein's hydrodynamic properties were also studied by fluorescence anisotropy decay measurements. The average Brownian rotational correlation times of AC differed significantly according to the probe used (19 ns for W242, 25 ns for Ant-dATP, and 35 ns for acrylodan), suggesting an elongated protein shape (axial ratio of approximately 1.9). These values increased greatly with the addition of CaM (39 ns for W242, 60-70 ns for Ant-dATP and 56 ns for acrylodan). This suggests that (a) the orientation of the probes is altered with respect to the protein axes and (b) the protein becomes more elongated with an axial ratio of approximately 2.4. For comparison, the hydrodynamic properties of the anthrax AC exotoxin were computed by a mathematical approach (hydropro), which uses the 3D structure [Drum, C.L., Yan, S.-Z., Bard, J., Shen, Y.-Q., Lu, D., Soelalman, S., Grabarek, Z., Bohm, A. & Tang, W.-J. (2002) Nature (London)415, 396-402]. A change in axial ratio is also observed on CaM binding, but in the reverse direction from that for AC: from 1.7 to 1.3. The mechanisms of activation of the two proteins by CaM may therefore be different.