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E J Goldsmith

Publications and source records attributed to E J Goldsmith.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Allosteric enzymes as models for chemomechanical energy transducing assemblies.

In chemomechanical energy transducing assemblies such as muscle and ATP synthase, substrates and macromolecules are locked together as partners where energy available from (or required for) a chemical transformation is exchanged with protein conformational changes. Allosteric binding proteins and enzymes are also chemomechanical energy transducers, using binding energy to generate protein conformational changes, and transduce energy in amounts almost as large as those used to drive muscle contraction and the synthesis of ATP. The recently determined structure of the F1-ATPase reveals a direct correspondence between the types of conformational changes in this transducer and simpler allosteric binding proteins and enzymes. Therefore, we can examine the structural and energetic data available on allosteric proteins to understand the linkage between ligand binding and global conformational changes in more complex energy transducing assemblies.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Activity of the MAP kinase ERK2 is controlled by a flexible surface loop.

BACKGROUND: The mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, ERK2, is a tightly regulated enzyme in the ubiquitous Ras-activated protein kinase cascade. ERK2 is activated by phosphorylation at two sites, Y185 and T183, that lie in the phosphorylation lip at the mouth of the catalytic site. To ascertain the role of these two residues in securing the low-activity conformation of the enzymes we have carried out crystallographic analyses and assays of phosphorylation-site mutants of ERK2. RESULTS: The crystal structures of four mutants, T183E (threonine at residue 183 is replaced by glutamate), Y185E, Y185F and the double mutant T183E/Y185E, were determined. When T183 is replaced by glutamate, few conformational changes are observed. By contrast, when Y185 is replaced by glutamate, 19 residues become disordered, including the entire phosphorylation lip and an adjacent loop. The conservative substitution of phenylalanine for Y185 also induces relatively large conformational changes. A binding site for phosphotyrosine in the active enzyme is putatively identified on the basis of the high-resolution refinement of the structure of wild-type ERK2. CONCLUSIONS: The remarkable disorder observed throughout the phosphorylation lip when Y185 is mutated shows that the stability of the phosphorylation lip is rather low. Therefore, only modest amounts of binding energy will be required to dislodge the lip for phosphorylation, and it is likely that these residues will be involved in conformational changes associated with both with binding to kinases and phosphatases and with activation. Furthermore, the low-activity structure is specifically dependent on Y185, whereas there is no such dependency on T183. Both residues, however, participate in forming the active enzyme, contributing to its tight control.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Modeling of the spatial structure of eukaryotic ornithine decarboxylases.

We used sequence and structural comparisons to determine the fold for eukaryotic ornithine decarboxylase, which we found is related to alanine racemase. These enzymes have no detectable sequence identity with any protein of known structure, including three pyridoxal phosphate-utilizing enzymes. Our studies suggest that the N-terminal domain of ornithine decarboxylase folds into a beta/alpha-barrel. Through the analysis of known barrel structures we developed a topographic model of the pyridoxal phosphate-binding domain of ornithine decarboxylase, which predicts that the Schiff base lysine and a conserved glycine-rich sequence both map to the C-termini of the beta-strands. Other residues in this domain that are likely to have essential roles in catalysis, substrate, and cofactor binding were also identified, suggesting that this model will be a suitable guide to mutagenic analysis of the enzyme mechanism.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Serpins: the uncut version.

The structure of active antithrombin, the first active serpin to be solved, sheds new light on the conformational forms of this important class of inhibitor.

Antithrombins↗

Atomic structure of the MAP kinase ERK2 at 2.3 A resolution.

The structure of the MAP kinase ERK2, a ubiquitous protein kinase target for regulation by Ras and Raf, has been solved in its unphosphorylated low-activity conformation to a resolution of 2.3 A. The two domains of unphosphorylated ERK2 are farther apart than in the active conformation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase and the peptide-binding site is blocked by tyrosine 185, one of the two residues that are phosphorylated in the active enzyme. Activation of ERK2 is thus likely to involve both global and local conformational changes.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Protein kinases.

The structures of four serine/threonine protein kinases have been determined recently. By comparing these structures with that of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAPK), it is now possible to see how the activity of these regulatory enzymes is controlled. Low activity is maintained through the conformation of the phosphorylation lip, domain rotations, and binding of substrate analog inhibitors and autoinhibitory domains.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Converting tissue plasminogen activator to a zymogen: a regulatory triad of Asp-His-Ser.

Unlike most serine proteases of the chymotrypsin family, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is secreted from cells as an active, single-chain enzyme with a catalytic efficiency only slightly lower than that of the proteolytically cleaved form. A zymogenic mutant of tPA has been engineered that displays a reduction in catalytic efficiency by a factor of 141 in the single-chain form while retaining full activity in the cleaved form. The residues introduced in the mutant, serine 292 and histidine 305, are proposed to form a hydrogen-bonded network with aspartate 477, similar to the aspartate 194-histidine 40-serine 32 network found to stabilize the zymogen chymotrypsinogen.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray studies of extracellular signal-regulated kinase-2/MAP kinase with an incorporated His-tag.

The extracellular signal-regulated kinase ERK2, a member of the protein kinase superfamily, phosphorylates a variety of cellular proteins in response to extracellular signals. ERK2 expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein with the sequence Ala-His6 at the N terminus has low basal activity and very low levels of phosphate incorporation, but can be fully activated. The Ala-His6 ERK2 as expressed in the unphosphorylated form has been crystallized in space group P2(1). The cell constants are a = 49.32 A, b = 71.42 A, c = 61.25 A, and beta = 109.75 degrees, and the crystals diffract to better than 1.8 A resolution.

Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases↗

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray data for the A-isozyme of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase from Salmonella typhimurium.

The A-isozyme of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase, a pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme isolated from Salmonella typhimurium catalyzes the synthesis of L-cysteine from O-acetyl-L-serine and sulfide. The pyridoxal form of the enzyme has been crystallized in two different forms. One form is in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with cell constants a = 144.4 A, b = 96.9 A and c = 54.3 A and contains two monomers each of molecular weight 34,000 per asymmetric unit. The second form is in a hexagonal space group with unit cell dimensions a = b = 115 A, and c = 348 A and contains two 68,000 dimers per asymmetric unit. Complete native enzyme data sets have been collected for both crystal forms using an R-Axis II detector. A search for suitable heavy-atom derivatives is underway. Although both crystal forms diffract X-rays to better than 2.5 A, the orthorhombic form is more suited to a detailed structural analysis due to the extended lifetime in the X-ray beam and the relative size of the unit cell.

Crystallization↗

Crystallization and preliminary x-ray diffraction analysis of P450terp and the hemoprotein domain of P450BM-3, enzymes belonging to two distinct classes of the cytochrome P450 superfamily.

Cytochromes P450 are members of a superfamily of hemoproteins that are involved in the metabolism of various physiologic and xenobiotic organic compounds. This superfamily of proteins can be divided into two classes based on the electron donor proximal to the P450: an iron-sulfur protein for class I P450s or a flavoprotein for class II. The only known tertiary structure of any of the cytochromes P450 is that of P450cam, a class I soluble enzyme isolated from Pseudomonas putida (product of the CYP101 gene). To understand the details of the structure-function relationships within and between the two classes, structural studies on additional cytochromes P450 are crucial. We report here characterization of the crystal forms of two soluble, bacterial enzymes: cytochrome P450terp [class I enzyme from a Pseudomonas species (product of CYP108 gene)] and the hemoprotein domain of cytochrome P450BM-3 [class II enzyme from Bacillus megaterium (product of the CYP102 gene)]. The crystals of cytochrome P450terp are hexagonal and belong to the space group P6(1)22 (or its enantiomorph, P6(5)22) with unit cell dimensions a = b = 68.9 A and c = 458.7 A. The crystals of the hemoprotein domain of cytochrome P450BM-3 are monoclinic and belong to the space group P2(1) with unit cell dimensions a = 59.4 A, b = 154.0 A, c = 62.2 A, and beta = 94.7 degrees. Diffraction data for the crystals of these two proteins were obtained to a resolution better than 2.2 A. Assuming the presence of two molecules in the asymmetric unit for the hemoprotein domain of P450BM-3 and one molecule for P450terp, the calculated values of Vm are 2.6 and 3.3 A3/Da, respectively.

Bacillus megaterium↗

Structural basis of latency in plasminogen activator inhibitor-1.

Human plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is the fast-acting inhibitor of tissue plasminogen activator and urokinase and is a member of the serpin family of protease inhibitors. Serpins normally form complexes with their target proteases that dissociate very slowly as cleaved species and then fold into a highly stable inactive state in which the residues that flank the scissile bond (P1 and P1';) are separated by about 70 A. PAI-1 also spontaneously folds into a stable inactive state without cleavage; this state is termed 'latent' because inhibitory activity can be restored through denaturation and renaturation. Here we report the structure of intact latent PAI-1 determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction to 2.6 A resolution. The three-dimensional structure reveals that residues on the N-terminal side of the primary recognition site are inserted as a central strand of the largest beta sheet, in positions similar to the corresponding residues in the cleaved form of the serpin alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha 1-PI). Residues C-terminal to the recognition site occupy positions on the surface of the molecule distinct from those of the corresponding residues in cleaved serpins or in the intact inactive serpin homologue, ovalbumin, and its cleavage product, plakalbumin. The structure of latent PAI-1 is similar to one formed after cleavage in other serpins, and the stability of both latent PAI-1 and cleaved serpins may be derived from the same structural features.

Binding Sites↗

Structural evolution of an enzyme specificity. The structure of rat carboxypeptidase A2 at 1.9-A resolution.

The structure of rat carboxypeptidase A2 (CPA2), which has a unique specificity for tryptophan-containing COOH-terminal peptides, has been determined in an unliganded state at 1.9-A resolution and refined to a crystallographic R-factor of 18.3%. Comparison of the structure of CPA2 with that of bovine carboxypeptidase A (referred to here as CPA1) reveals that the specificity of the former for larger amino acids probably arises from two amino acid replacements within the binding cavity (Thr268----Ala and Leu203----Met), coupled with differences in the positions of conserved residues in a surface loop on one face of the specificity pocket. The position of the reactive-site surface loop may be affected also by a disulfide bridge between Cys210 and Cys244. In this unliganded form of the enzyme, Tyr248 takes up a position interior to the specificity pocket and is distinct from that observed in bovine CPA1. The structural differences between CPA1 and CPA2 correlate strongly with crystallographically determined temperature factors and thus appear to be largest where the enzyme is flexible.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Structural basis for the activation of glycogen phosphorylase b by adenosine monophosphate.

The three-dimensional structure of the activated state of glycogen phosphorylase (GP) as induced by adenosine monophosphate (AMP) has been determined from crystals of pyridoxalpyrophosphoryl-GP. The same quaternary changes relative to the inactive conformation as those induced by phosphorylation are induced by AMP, although the two regulatory signals function through different local structural mechanisms. Moreover, previous descriptions of the phosphorylase active state have been extended by demonstrating that, on activation, the amino- and carboxyl-terminal domains of GP rotate apart by 5 degrees, thereby increasing access of substrates to the catalytic site. The structure also reveals previously unobserved interactions with the nucleotide that accounts for the specificity of the nucleotide binding site for AMP in preference to inosine monophosphate.

Adenosine Monophosphate↗

Preliminary X-ray analysis of crystals of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1.

Crystals of bacterially expressed plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis have been obtained from 8% (w/v) PEG 1500, pH 8.25. The space group is P1, and the lattice constants are a = 82.17 A, b = 47.82 A, c = 62.89 A, alpha = 90.00 degrees, beta = 106.90 degrees, gamma = 106.84 degrees. The diffraction limit is 2.3 A, and the unit cell contains two molecules of PAI-1. The crystals contain latent PAI-1 which can be partly reactivated by exposure to denaturants.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Restoration of serine protease-inhibitor interaction by protein engineering.

Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the fibrinolytic cascade: conversion of plasminogen to plasmin. Plasma contains several inhibitors of t-PA that limit its activity and prevent systemic activation of plasminogen. The most important of these is endothelial cell plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), a member of the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) gene family. We have previously demonstrated that mutation of arginine 304 of t-PA to a glutamic acid residue drastically reduces the rate of interaction between the enzyme and its suicide substrate, PAI-1, without affecting the reactivity of the enzyme toward its normal substrate, plasminogen (Madison, E. L., Goldsmith, E. J., Gerard, R.D., Gething, M.J., and Sambrook, J.F. (1989) Nature 339, 721-724). We report here the use of protein modeling to design a compensatory mutation in PAI-1 (glutamic acid 350 to arginine) and create a molecule that rapidly inhibits this "serpin-resistant" variant of t-PA.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Amino acid residues that affect interaction of tissue-type plasminogen activator with plasminogen activator inhibitor 1.

Fibrinolysis is regulated in part by the interaction between tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1, a serine protease inhibitor of the serpin family). It is known from our earlier work that deletion of a loop of amino acids (residues 296-302) from the serine protease domain of t-PA suppresses the interaction between the two proteins without altering the reactivity of t-PA towards its substrate, plasminogen. To define more precisely the role of individual residues within this loop, we have used site-directed mutagenesis to replace Lys-296, Arg-298, and Arg-299 with negatively charged glutamic residues. Replacement of all three positively charged amino acids generates a variant of t-PA that associates inefficiently with PAI-1 and is highly resistant to inhibition by the serpin. Two t-PAs with point mutations (Arg-298----Glu and Arg-299----Glu) are partially resistant to inhibition by PAI-1 and associate with the serpin at intermediate rates. Other point mutations (Lys-296----Glu, His-297----Glu, and Pro-301----Gly) do not detectably affect the interaction of t-PA with PAI-1. None of these substitutions has a significant effect on the rate of catalysis by t-PA or on the affinity of the enzyme for its substrate, plasminogen. On the basis of these results, we propose a model in which positively charged residues located in a surface loop near the active site of t-PA form ionic bonds with complementary negatively charged residues C-terminal to the reactive center of PAI-1.

Amino Acid Sequence↗