Amidation of bioactive peptides: the structure of the lyase domain of the amidating enzyme.
Chufan, E.E., De, M., Eipper, B.A., Mains, R.E., Amzel, L.M.(2009) Structure 17: 965-973
- PubMed: 19604476 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2009.05.008
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
3FVZ, 3FW0 - PubMed Abstract: 
Many neuropeptides and peptide hormones require amidation of their carboxy terminal for full biological activity. The enzyme peptidyl-alpha-hydroxyglycine alpha-amidating lyase (PAL; EC 4.3.2.5) catalyzes the second and last step of this reaction, N-dealkylation of the peptidyl-alpha-hydroxyglycine to generate the alpha-amidated peptide and glyoxylate. Here we report the X-ray crystal structure of the PAL catalytic core (PALcc) alone and in complex with the nonpeptidic substrate alpha-hydroxyhippuric acid. The structures show that PAL folds as a six-bladed beta-propeller. The active site is formed by a Zn(II) ion coordinated by three histidine residues; the substrate binds to this site with its alpha-hydroxyl group coordinated to the Zn(II) ion. The structures also reveal a tyrosine residue (Tyr(654)) at the active site as the catalytic base for hydroxyl deprotonation, an unusual role for tyrosine. A reaction mechanism is proposed based on this structural data and validated by biochemical analysis of site-directed PALcc mutants.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.