Structure/function studies on a S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent uroporphyrinogen III C methyltransferase (SUMT), a key regulatory enzyme of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis.

The crystallographic structure of the Pseudomonas denitrificans S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent uroporphyrinogen III methyltransferase (SUMT), which is encoded by the cobA gene, has been solved by molecular replacement to 2.7A resolution. SUMT is a branchpoint enzyme that plays a key role in the biosynthesis of modified tetrapyrroles by controlling flux to compounds such as vitamin B(12) and sirohaem, and catalysing the transformation of uroporphyrinogen III into precorrin-2. The overall topology of the enzyme is similar to that of the SUMT module of sirohaem synthase (CysG) and the cobalt-precorrin-4 methyltransferase CbiF and, as with the latter structures, SUMT has the product S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine bound in the crystal. The roles of a number of residues within the SUMT structure are discussed with respect to their conservation either across the broader family of cobalamin biosynthetic methyltransferases or within the sub-group of SUMT members. The D47N, L49A, F106A, T130A, Y183A and M184A variants of SUMT were generated by mutagenesis of the cobA gene, and tested for SAM binding and enzymatic activity. Of these variants, only D47N and L49A bound the co-substrate S-adenosyl-L-methionine. Consequently, all the mutants were severely restricted in their capacity to synthesise precorrin-2, although both the D47N and L49A variants produced significant quantities of precorrin-1, the monomethylated derivative of uroporphyrinogen III. The activity of these variants is interpreted with respect to the structure of the enzyme.

Crystallization and preliminary structure analysis of CobE, an essential protein of cobalamin (vitamin B12) biosynthesis.

CobE, a protein implicated in vitamin B12 biosynthesis, from Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized using hanging-drop vapour diffusion. The crystals belong to the primitive orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 31.86, b = 41.07, c = 87.41 A. The diffraction extends to a resolution of 1.9 A. There is one molecule per asymmetric unit and the estimated solvent content is 35%. SeMet-labelled CobE has been prepared and crystallizes under the same conditions as the native protein with diffraction to 1.7 A. The anomalous measurements will be used for phasing.

Crystal structure of an intracellular subtilisin reveals novel structural features unique to this subtilisin family.

The intracellular subtilisin proteases (ISPs) are the only known members of the important and ubiquitous subtilisin family that function exclusively within the cell, constituting a major component of the degradome in many Gram-positive bacteria. The first ISP structure reported herein at a spacing of 1.56 A reveals features unique among subtilisins that has enabled potential functional and physiological roles to be assigned to sequence elements exclusive to the ISPs. Unlike all other subtilisins, ISP from B. clausii is dimeric, with residues from the C terminus making a major contribution to the dimer interface by crossing over to contact the partner subunit. A short N-terminal extension binds back across the active site to provide a potential novel regulatory mechanism of intrinsic proteolytic activity: a proline residue conserved throughout the ISPs introduces a kink in the polypeptide backbone that lifts the target peptide bond out of reach of the catalytic residues.

Structural and mutational analyses of the interaction between the barley alpha-amylase/subtilisin inhibitor and the subtilisin savinase reveal a novel mode of inhibition.

Subtilisins represent a large class of microbial serine proteases. To date, there are three-dimensional structures of proteinaceous inhibitors from three families in complex with subtilisins in the Protein Data Bank. All interact with subtilisin via an exposed loop covering six interacting residues. Here we present the crystal structure of the complex between the Bacillus lentus subtilisin Savinase and the barley alpha-amylase/subtilisin inhibitor (BASI). This is the first reported structure of a cereal Kunitz-P family inhibitor in complex with a subtilisin. Structural analysis revealed that BASI inhibits Savinase in a novel way, as the interacting loop is shorter than loops previously reported. Mutational analysis showed that Thr88 is crucial for the inhibition, as it stabilises the interacting loop through intramolecular interactions with the BASI backbone.

Weak activity of haloalkane dehalogenase LinB with 1,2,3-trichloropropane revealed by X-Ray crystallography and microcalorimetry.

1,2,3-Trichloropropane (TCP) is a highly toxic and recalcitrant compound. Haloalkane dehalogenases are bacterial enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of a carbon-halogen bond in a wide range of organic halogenated compounds. Haloalkane dehalogenase LinB from Sphingobium japonicum UT26 has, for a long time, been considered inactive with TCP, since the reaction cannot be easily detected by conventional analytical methods. Here we demonstrate detection of the weak activity (k(cat) = 0.005 s(-1)) of LinB with TCP using X-ray crystallography and microcalorimetry. This observation makes LinB a useful starting material for the development of a new biocatalyst toward TCP by protein engineering. Microcalorimetry is proposed to be a universal method for the detection of weak enzymatic activities. Detection of these activities is becoming increasingly important for engineering novel biocatalysts using the scaffolds of proteins with promiscuous activities.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of an alkaline serine protease from Nesterenkonia sp.

A novel calcium-independent serine protease from an alkaliphilic bacterium, Nesterenkonia sp. AL20, has been purified and crystallized at 296 K using sodium formate as the main precipitant. This enzyme is optimally active at pH 10, exhibits high stability towards autolytic digestion and its stability is not affected by the presence of EDTA or detergents. The triangular prism-shaped crystals diffracted X-rays to beyond 1.5 A at a synchrotron beamline, with space group R3 and unit-cell parameters a = b = 92.26, c = 137.88 A. A complete data set has been collected to 1.39 A resolution. The asymmetric unit is estimated and confirmed by self-rotation function calculation to contain two molecules, giving a crystal Volume per protein mass (V(M)) of 2.68 A(3) Da(-1) and a solvent content of 54%.