Glycogen phosphorylase revisited: extending the resolution of the R- and T-state structures of the free enzyme and in complex with allosteric activators.
Leonidas, D.D., Zographos, S.E., Tsitsanou, K.E., Skamnaki, V.T., Stravodimos, G., Kyriakis, E.(2021) Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun 77: 303-311
- PubMed: 34473107 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1107/S2053230X21008542
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
3E3L, 3E3N, 3E3O, 7P7D - PubMed Abstract: 
The crystal structures of free T-state and R-state glycogen phosphorylase (GP) and of R-state GP in complex with the allosteric activators IMP and AMP are reported at improved resolution. GP is a validated pharmaceutical target for the development of antihyperglycaemic agents, and the reported structures may have a significant impact on structure-based drug-design efforts. Comparisons with previously reported structures at lower resolution reveal the detailed conformation of important structural features in the allosteric transition of GP from the T-state to the R-state. The conformation of the N-terminal segment (residues 7-17), the position of which was not located in previous T-state structures, was revealed to form an α-helix (now termed α0). The conformation of this segment (which contains Ser14, phosphorylation of which leads to the activation of GP) is significantly different between the T-state and the R-state, pointing in opposite directions. In the T-state it is packed between helices α4 and α16 (residues 104-115 and 497-508, respectively), while in the R-state it is packed against helix α1 (residues 22'-38') and towards the loop connecting helices α4' and α5' of the neighbouring subunit. The allosteric binding site where AMP and IMP bind is formed by the ordering of a loop (residues 313-326) which is disordered in the free structure, and adopts a conformation dictated mainly by the type of nucleotide that binds at this site.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Biopolis, 41500 Larissa, Greece.