The crystal structure of a mu class glutathione S-transferase (EC 2.5.1.18) from rat liver (isoenzyme 3-3) in complex with the physiological substrate glutathione (GSH) has been solved at 2.2-A resolution by multiple isomorphous replacement methods. The enzyme crystallized in the monoclinic space group C2 with unit cell dimensions of a = 87.98 A, b = 69.41 A, c = 81.34 A, and beta = 106.07 degrees. Oligonucleotide-directed site-specific mutagenesis played an important role in the solution of the structure in that the cysteine mutants C86S, C114S, and C173S were used to help locate the positions of mercuric ion sites in nonisomorphous derivatives with ethylmercuric phosphate and to align the sequence with the model derived from MIR phases. A complete model for the protein was not obtained until part of the solvent structure was interpreted. The dimer in the asymmetric unit refined to a crystallographic R = 0.171 for 19,298 data and I > or = 1.5 sigma (I). The final model consists of 4150 atoms, including all non-hydrogen atoms of 434 amino acid residues, two GSH molecules, and oxygen atoms of 474 water molecules. The dimeric enzyme is globular in shape with dimensions of 53 x 62 x 56 A. Crystal contacts are primarily responsible for conformational differences between the two subunits which are related by a noncrystallographic 2-fold axis. The structure of the type 3 subunit can be divided into two domains separated by a short linker, a smaller alpha/beta domain (domain I, residues 1-82), and a larger alpha domain (domain II, residues 90-217). Domain I contains four beta-strands which form a central mixed beta-sheet and three alpha-helices which are arranged in a beta alpha beta alpha beta beta alpha motif. Domain II is composed of five alpha-helices. Domain I can be considered the glutathione binding domain, while domain II seems to be primarily responsible for xenobiotic substrate binding. The active site is located in a deep (19-A) cavity which is composed of three relatively mobile structural elements: the long loop (residues 33-42) of domain I, the alpha 4/alpha 5 helix-turn-helix segment, and the C-terminal tail. GSH is bound at the active site in an extended conformation at one end of the beta-sheet of domain I with its backbone facing the cavity and the sulfur pointing toward the subunit to which it is bound.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

No abstract

Formation of the Meisenheimer complex or sigma-complex [1-(S-glutathionyl)-2,4,6-trinitrocyclohexadienate] between glutathione (GSH) and 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (TNB) can be observed at the active sites of isoenzymes 3-3 and 4-4 of rat liver GSH transferase. The spectroscopic properties (UV-visible and CD) of the enzyme-bound sigma-complex are consistent with a 1:1 complex in an asymmetric environment. Competitive inhibitors which occupy the GSH binding site (e.g., gamma-L-glutamyl-D,L-2-aminomalonylglycine) inhibit sigma-complex formation. The apparent formation constants of the sigma-complex (M) with enzyme-bound GSH (E.GS- + TNB in equilibrium E.M) at pH 7.5 are 5 x 10(4) M-1 and 7 x 10(2) M-1 for isoenzymes 3-3 and 4-4, respectively. Both values are much greater than that in aqueous solution (GS- + TNB in equilibrium M), where Kf = 28 M-1. Isoenzyme 3-3 is roughly an order of magnitude more efficient than 4-4 in catalyzing nucleophilic aromatic substitutions, a fact that appears to correlate with the ability of each enzyme to stabilize the sigma-complex. The pH dependence of Kf(app) for isoenzyme 3-3 is used to probe the ionization behavior of enzyme-bound GSH. The results are consistent with a double-ionization scheme (e.g., H+E.GSH in equilibrium H+E.GS- in equilibrium E.GS-) with pK's of 5.7 and 7.6, which are assigned to the thiol pK and the pK of a protonated base in the active site, respectively. Formation of the sigma-complex is also observed in single crystals of isoenzyme 3-3, providing a clear demonstration of the chemical competence of the crystallized enzyme. The results are discussed with respect to catalytic efficiency and the ability of the enzyme to stabilize sigma-complex intermediates in nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions.

Because the N-and C-terminal amino acids of the catalytic (c) polypeptide chains of Escherichia coliaspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) are in close proximity to each other, it has been possible to form in vivo five different active ATCase variants in which the terminal regions of the wild-type c chains are linked in a continuous polypeptide chain and new termini are introduced elsewhere in either of the two structural domains of the c chain. These circularly permuted (cp) chains were produced by constructing tandem pyrB genes, which encode the c chain of ATCase, followed by application of PCR. Chains expressed in this way assemble efficiently in vivo to form active, stable ATCase variants. Three such variants have been purified and shown to have the kinetic and physical properties characteristic of wild-type ATCase composed of two catalytic (C) trimers and three regulatory (R) dimers. The values of V,, for cpATCase122, cpATCase222, and , , A T C~S~~,~ ranged from 16-21 pmol carbamoylaspartate per pg per h, compared with 15 for wild-type ATCase, and the values for for the variants were 4-17 mM aspartate, whereas wild-type ATCase exhibited a value of 6 mM. Hill coefficients for the three variants varied from 1.8 to 2.1, compared with 1.4 for the wild-type enzyme. As observed with wild-type ATCase, ATP activated the variants containing the circularly permuted chains, as shown by the lowering of for aspartate and a decrease in the Hill coefficient (nH). In contrast, CTP caused both an increase in and nH for the variants, just as observed with wild-type ATCase. Thus, the enzyme containing the permuted chains with widely diverse N-and C-termini exhibited the homotropic and heterotropic effects characteristic of wild-type ATCase. The decrease in the sedimentation coefficient of the variants caused by the binding of the bisubstrate ligand ~-(phosphonacety1)-L-aspartate (PALA) was also virtually identical to that obtained with wild-type ATCase, thereby indicating that these altered ATCase molecules undergo the analogous ligand-promoted allosteric transition from the taut (T) state to the relaxed (R) conformation. These ATCase molecules with new N-and C-termini widely dispersed throughout the c chains are valuable models for studying in vivo and in vitro folding of polypeptide chains.

Exons 1 and 2 and exon 8 of the mu class GSH transferases from rat encode sequence-variable regions 1 and 4 of mu class isoenzymes, respectively. These two of four variable regions are located at the N- and C-termini of this isoenzyme class and impinge on the active site. In order to assess the influence of these variable regions on the catalytic diversity of the class mu isoenzymes, seven chimeric isoenzymes were constructed by transplantation of the variable regions of the sequence of the type 4 subunit into the corresponding regions of the type 3 subunit. The chimeric isoenzymes exhibit unique catalytic properties. Replacement of all, or part, of variable region 4 of the type 3 subunit with that of the type 4 subunit results in chimeric catalysts with higher turnover numbers in nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions. Analysis of the crystal structure of isoenzyme 3-3 [Ji, X., Zhang, P., Armstrong, R. N., & Gilliland, G. L. (1992) Biochemistry (preceding paper in this issue)] suggests that interaction of the flexible C-terminal tail with the N-terminal domain helps limit the rate of product release from the active site of isoenzyme 3-3 in this type of reaction. Substitution of all, or part, of the sequence-variable region 1 of subunit 3 with that of subunit 4 results in chimeric isoenzymes that mimic the high stereoselectivity but not the catalytic efficiency of isoenzyme 4-4 toward alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)