Mutations in palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1), a lysosomal enzyme that removes fatty acyl groups from cysteine residues in modified proteins, cause the fatal inherited neurodegenerative disorder infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis. The accumulation of undigested substrates leads to the formation of neuronal storage bodies that are associated with the clinical symptoms. Less severe forms of PPT1 deficiency have been found recently that are caused by a distinct set of PPT1 mutations, some of which retain a small amount of thioesterase activity. We have determined the crystal structure of PPT1 with and without bound palmitate by using multiwavelength anomalous diffraction phasing. The structure reveals an ␣͞␤-hydrolase fold with a catalytic triad composed of Ser115-His289-Asp233 and provides insights into the structural basis for the phenotypes associated with PPT1 mutations.

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Palmitoyl-protein thioesterase-1 (PPT1) is a newly described lysosomal enzyme that hydrolyzes long chain fatty acids from lipid-modified cysteine residues in proteins. Deficiency in this enzyme results in a severe neurodegenerative storage disorder, infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis. Although the primary structure of PPT1 contains a serine lipase consensus sequence, the enzyme is insensitive to commonly used serine-modifying reagents phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and diisopropylfluorophosphate. In the current paper, we show that the active site serine in PPT1 is modified by a substrate analog of PMSF, hexadecylsulfonylfluoride (HDSF) in a specific and site-directed manner. The apparent K i of the inhibition was 125 M (in the presence of 1.5 mM Triton X-100), and the catalytic rate constant for sulfonylation (k 2 ) was 3.3/min, a value similar to previously described sulfonylation reactions. PPT1 was crystallized after inactivation with HDSF, and the structure of the inactive form was determined to 2.4 Å resolution. The hexadecylsulfonyl was found to modify serine 115 and to snake through a narrow hydrophobic channel that would not accommodate an aromatic sulfonyl fluoride. Therefore, the geometry of the active site accounts for the reactivity of PPT1 with HDSF but not PMSF. These observations suggest a structural explanation as to why certain serine lipases are resistant to modification by commonly used serine-modifying reagents.Palmitoyl-protein thioesterase-1 (PPT1) 1 is a newly described lysosomal hydrolase that removes long chain fatty acids from lipid-modified cysteine residues in fatty acylated proteins (reviewed in Ref. 1). Deficiency of the enzyme leads to a lysosomal storage disease, infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, which causes blindness, seizures, and cortical atrophy of the brain (2). Lysosomal inclusion bodies, termed granular osmiophilic deposits, accumulate in all tissues, and resemble lipofuscin deposits that occur during normal aging. In keeping with this important lipid-metabolizing role, PPT1 is one of the most abundant lysosomal enzymes in the brain (3). In contrast to most hydrolytic enzymes (such as proteases, lipases, esterases, and thioesterases), PPT1 is insensitive to the serine-modifying reagents phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) (4). The insensitivity of PPT1 to these reagents was an important feature of PPT1 because it allowed for the identification of PPT activity in the presence of contaminating lipase and protease activities. We wondered whether there might be structural and/or mechanistic differences between PPT1 and these other lipolytic enzymes that would account for this observation. We have recently determined the three-dimensional crystal structure of PPT1 in the presence and absence of palmitoyl-CoA and shown that palmitate modifies serine 115 of the enzyme (5), confirming that a serine residue is the catalytic nucleophile.In the current study, we show that although PPT1 is insensitive to inactivation by the ser...