Structural Basis for the Regulation of N-Acetylglutamate Kinase by PII in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Mizuno, Y., Moorhead, G.B., Ng, K.K.(2007) J Biol Chem 282: 35733-35740
- PubMed: 17913711 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M707127200
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
2RD5 - PubMed Abstract: 
PII is a highly conserved regulatory protein found in organisms across the three domains of life. In cyanobacteria and plants, PII relieves the feedback inhibition of the rate-limiting step in arginine biosynthesis catalyzed by N-acetylglutamate kinase (NAGK). To understand the molecular structural basis of enzyme regulation by PII, we have determined a 2.5-A resolution crystal structure of a complex formed between two homotrimers of PII and a single hexamer of NAGK from Arabidopsis thaliana bound to the metabolites N-acetylglutamate, ADP, ATP, and arginine. In PII, the T-loop and Trp(22) at the start of the alpha1-helix, which are both adjacent to the ATP-binding site of PII, contact two beta-strands as well as the ends of two central helices (alphaE and alphaG) in NAGK, the opposing ends of which form major portions of the ATP and N-acetylglutamate substrate-binding sites. The binding of Mg(2+).ATP to PII stabilizes a conformation of the T-loop that favors interactions with both open and closed conformations of NAGK. Interactions between PII and NAGK appear to limit the degree of opening and closing of the active-site cleft in opposition to a domain-separating inhibitory effect exerted by arginine, thus explaining the stimulatory effect of PII on the kinetics of arginine-inhibited NAGK.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biological Sciences and the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Carbohydrate Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada.