Download MendeleyThe sensitive balance between the fully folded and locally unfolded conformations of a model peroxiredoxin.
Perkins, A., Nelson, K.J., Williams, J.R., Parsonage, D., Poole, L.B., Karplus, P.A.(2013) Biochemistry 52: 8708-8721
- PubMed: 24175952
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/bi4011573
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
4MA9, 4MAB - PubMed Abstract:
To reduce peroxides, peroxiredoxins (Prxs) require a key "peroxidatic" Cys that, in a substrate-ready fully folded (FF) conformation, is oxidized to sulfenic acid and then, after a local unfolding (LU) of the active site, forms a disulfide bond with a second "resolving" Cys. For Salmonella typhimurium alkyl hydroperoxide reductase C (StAhpC) and some other Prxs, the FF structure is only known for a peroxidatic Cys→Ser variant, which may not accurately represent the wild-type enzyme. Here, we obtain the structure of authentic reduced wild-type StAhpC by dithiothreitol treatment of disulfide form crystals that fortuitously accommodate both the LU and FF conformations. The unique environment of one molecule in the crystal reveals a thermodynamic linkage between the folding of the active site loop and C-terminal regions, and comparisons with the Ser variant show structural and mobility differences from which we infer that the Cys→Ser mutation stabilizes the FF active site. A structure for the C165A variant (a resolving Cys to Ala mutant) in the same crystal form reveals that this mutation destabilizes the folding of the C-terminal region. These structures prove that subtle modifications to Prx structures can substantially influence enzymatic properties. We also present a simple thermodynamic framework for understanding the various mixtures of FF and LU conformations seen in these structures. On the basis of this framework, we rationalize how physiologically relevant regulatory post-translational modifications may modulate activity, and we propose a nonconventional strategy for designing selective Prx inhibitors.
Organizational Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Oregon State University , Corvallis, Oregon 97331, United States.
