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Na؉ binding near the primary specificity pocket of thrombin promotes the procoagulant, prothrombotic, and signaling functions of the enzyme. The effect is mediated allosterically by a communication between the Na ؉ site and regions involved in substrate recognition. Using a panel of 78 Ala mutants of thrombin, we have mapped the allosteric core of residues that are energetically linked to Na ؉ binding. These residues are Asp-189, Glu-217, Asp-222, and Tyr-225, all in close proximity to the bound Na ؉ . Among these residues, Asp-189 shares with Asp-221 the important function of transducing Na

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The structure shows TPQ in a position poised for catalysis. This is the first active CAO structure to reveal this conformation and may help further our understanding of the catalytic mechanism. On the substrate side of TPQ a water-containing channel leading to the protein surface can serve as an entrance or exit for substrate and product. On the opposite side of TPQ there is direct access from the bulk solvent of the dimer interface by which molecular oxygen may enter and hydrogen peroxide depart. In addition, a network of conserved water molecules has been identified which may function in the catalytic mechanism.

MSOX is a two-domain protein with an overall topology most similar to that of D-amino acid oxidase, with which it shares 14% sequence identity. The flavin ring is located in a very basic environment, making contact with sidechains of arginine, lysine, histidine and the N-terminal end of a helix dipole. The flavin is covalently attached through an 8alpha-S-cysteinyl linkage to Cys315 of the catalytic domain. Covalent attachment is probably self-catalyzed through interactions with the positive sidechains and the helix dipole. Substrate binding is probably stabilized by hydrogen bonds between the substrate carboxylate and two basic sidechains, Arg52 and Lys348, located above the re face of the flavin ring.

The structure of bovine liver cytochrome bs, a soluble 93-residue proteolytic fragment of a 16 kDa. membranebound hemoprotein, initially solved at 2.0A resolution, has been refined at 1.5/~ using data collected on a diffractometer. Refinement to 2.0/~ resolution used the Hendrickson-Konnert procedure PROLSQ and was then extended to 1.5 ~ resolution using the program PROFFT. Only residues 3-87 could be identified in the model and these residues together with 93 water molecules gave an agreement factor of R = 0.161 for data in the resolution range 1.5-5/~,. The structure was finally refined using the program X-PLOR, which enabled alternate conformers to be modelled for several surface side chains. Residues 1 and 2 at the amino terminus of the protein and residue 88 near the carboxyl terminus could be identified from these electron-density maps. However the remaining disordered carboxy-terminal residues could not successfully be included in the model. A total of 117 solvent molecules were included in the final refinement to give R =0.164 for the data between 1.5 and 10/~.

The crystal structure of a ternary protein complex has been determined at 2.4 angstrom resolution. The complex is composed of three electron transfer proteins from Paracoccus denitrificans, the quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase, the blue copper protein amicyanin, and the cytochrome c551i. The central region of the c551i is folded similarly to several small bacterial c-type cytochromes; there is a 45-residue extension at the amino terminus and a 25-residue extension at the carboxyl terminus. The methylamine dehydrogenase-amicyanin interface is largely hydrophobic, whereas the amicyanin-cytochrome interface is more polar, with several charged groups present on each surface. Analysis of the simplest electron transfer pathways between the redox partners points out the importance of other factors such as energetics in determining the electron transfer rates.

The X-ray structure of the homotetrameric lysosomal acid hydrolase, human beta-glucuronidase (332,000 Mr), has been determined at 2.6 A resolution. The tetramer has approximate dihedral symmetry and each promoter consists of three structural domains with topologies similar to a jelly roll barrel, an immunoglobulin constant domain and a TIM barrel respectively. Residues 179-204 form a beta-hairpin motif similar to the putative lysosomal targeting motif of cathepsin D, supporting the view that lysosomal targeting has a structural basis. The active site of the enzyme is formed from a large cleft at the interface of two monomers. Residues Glu 451 and Glu 540 are proposed to be important for catalysis. The structure establishes a framework for understanding mutations that lead to the human genetic disease mucopolysaccharidosis VII, and for using the enzyme in anti-cancer therapy.