Crystal structure of plasmepsin I (PMI) from Plasmodium falciparumCrystal structure of plasmepsin I (PMI) from Plasmodium falciparum

Structural highlights

3qrv is a 2 chain structure with sequence from Plasmodium falciparum. Full crystallographic information is available from OCA. For a guided tour on the structure components use FirstGlance.
Method:X-ray diffraction, Resolution 2.4Å
Resources:FirstGlance, OCA, PDBe, RCSB, PDBsum, ProSAT

Function

PLM1_PLAFX During the asexual blood stage, catalyzes the initial cleavage of native host hemoglobin (Hb) resulting in Hb denaturation; specifically cleaves between Phe-33 and Leu-34 of Hb alpha-chain (PubMed:2007860, PubMed:8313875, PubMed:8844673). Digestion of host Hb is an essential step which provides the parasite with amino acids for protein synthesis, and regulates osmolarity (Probable).[1] [2] [3]

Publication Abstract from PubMed

Plasmepsin I (PMI) is one of the four vacuolar pepsin-like proteases responsible for hemoglobin degradation by the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum, and the only one with no crystal structure reported to date. Due to substantial functional redundancy of these enzymes, lack of inhibition of even a single plasmepsin can defeat efforts in creating effective antiparasitic agents. We have now solved crystal structures of the recombinant PMI as apoenzyme and in complex with the potent peptidic inhibitor, KNI-10006, at the resolution of 2.4 and 3.1A, respectively. The apoenzyme crystallized in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with two molecules in the asymmetric unit and the structure has been refined to the final R-factor of 20.7%. The KNI-10006 bound enzyme crystallized in the tetragonal space group P4(3) with four molecules in the asymmetric unit and the structure has been refined to the final R-factor of 21.1%. In the PMI-KNI-10006 complex, the inhibitors were bound identically to all four enzyme molecules, with the opposite directionality of the main chain of KNI-10006 relative to the direction of the enzyme substrates. Such a mode of binding of inhibitors containing an allophenylnorstatine-dimethylthioproline insert in the P1-P1' positions, previously reported in a complex with PMIV, demonstrates the importance of satisfying the requirements for the proper positioning of the functional groups in the mechanism-based inhibitors towards the catalytic machinery of aspartic proteases, as opposed to binding driven solely by the specificity of the individual enzymes. A comparison of the structure of the PMI-KNI-10006 complex with the structures of other vacuolar plasmepsins identified the important differences between them and may help in the design of specific inhibitors targeting the individual enzymes.

Crystal structures of the free and inhibited forms of plasmepsin I (PMI) from Plasmodium falciparum.,Bhaumik P, Horimoto Y, Xiao H, Miura T, Hidaka K, Kiso Y, Wlodawer A, Yada RY, Gustchina A J Struct Biol. 2011 Apr 20. PMID:21521654[4]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

See Also

References

  1. Goldberg DE, Slater AF, Beavis R, Chait B, Cerami A, Henderson GB. Hemoglobin degradation in the human malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum: a catabolic pathway initiated by a specific aspartic protease. J Exp Med. 1991 Apr 1;173(4):961-9. PMID:2007860 doi:10.1084/jem.173.4.961
  2. Francis SE, Gluzman IY, Oksman A, Knickerbocker A, Mueller R, Bryant ML, Sherman DR, Russell DG, Goldberg DE. Molecular characterization and inhibition of a Plasmodium falciparum aspartic hemoglobinase. EMBO J. 1994 Jan 15;13(2):306-17. PMID:8313875 doi:10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06263.x
  3. Luker KE, Francis SE, Gluzman IY, Goldberg DE. Kinetic analysis of plasmepsins I and II aspartic proteases of the Plasmodium falciparum digestive vacuole. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 1996 Jul;79(1):71-8. doi: 10.1016/0166-6851(96)02651-5. PMID:8844673 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0166-6851(96)02651-5
  4. Bhaumik P, Horimoto Y, Xiao H, Miura T, Hidaka K, Kiso Y, Wlodawer A, Yada RY, Gustchina A. Crystal structures of the free and inhibited forms of plasmepsin I (PMI) from Plasmodium falciparum. J Struct Biol. 2011 Apr 20. PMID:21521654 doi:10.1016/j.jsb.2011.04.009

3qrv, resolution 2.40Å

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