Structure of the Branched Intermediate in Protein SplicingStructure of the Branched Intermediate in Protein Splicing

Structural highlights

4oz6 is a 2 chain structure with sequence from Mycobacterium xenopi. Full crystallographic information is available from OCA. For a guided tour on the structure components use FirstGlance.
Method:X-ray diffraction, Resolution 2.786Å
Ligands:,
Resources:FirstGlance, OCA, PDBe, RCSB, PDBsum, ProSAT

Function

GYRA_MYCXE DNA gyrase negatively supercoils closed circular double-stranded DNA in an ATP-dependent manner and also catalyzes the interconversion of other topological isomers of double-stranded DNA rings, including catenanes and knotted rings (By similarity).

Publication Abstract from PubMed

Inteins are autoprocessing domains that cut themselves out of host proteins in a traceless manner. This process, known as protein splicing, involves multiple chemical steps that must be coordinated to ensure fidelity in the process. The committed step in splicing involves attack of a conserved Asn side-chain amide on the adjacent backbone amide, leading to an intein-succinimide product and scission of that peptide bond. This cleavage reaction is stimulated by formation of a branched intermediate in the splicing process. The mechanism by which the Asn side-chain becomes activated as a nucleophile is not understood. Here we solve the crystal structure of an intein trapped in the branched intermediate step in protein splicing. Guided by this structure, we use protein-engineering approaches to show that intein-succinimide formation is critically dependent on a backbone-to-side-chain hydrogen-bond. We propose that this interaction serves to both position the side-chain amide for attack and to activate its nitrogen as a nucleophile. Collectively, these data provide an unprecedented view of an intein poised to carry out the rate-limiting step in protein splicing, shedding light on how a nominally nonnucleophilic group, a primary amide, can become activated in a protein active site.

Structure of the branched intermediate in protein splicing.,Liu Z, Frutos S, Bick MJ, Vila-Perello M, Debelouchina GT, Darst SA, Muir TW Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Apr 28. PMID:24778214[1]

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

References

  1. Liu Z, Frutos S, Bick MJ, Vila-Perello M, Debelouchina GT, Darst SA, Muir TW. Structure of the branched intermediate in protein splicing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Apr 28. PMID:24778214 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1402942111

4oz6, resolution 2.79Å

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