ABSTRACT
The manganese transport regulator MntR is a metal-ion activated transcriptional repressor of manganese transporter genes to maintain manganese ion homeostasis. MntR, a member of the diphtheria toxin repressor (DtxR) family of metalloregulators, selectively responds to Mn2+ and Cd2+ over Fe2+, Co2+ and Zn2+. The DtxR/MntR family members are well conserved transcriptional repressors that regulate the expression of metal ion uptake genes by sensing the metal ion concentration. MntR functions as a homo-dimer with one metal ion binding site per subunit. Each MntR subunit contains two domains: an N-terminal DNA binding domain, and a C-terminal dimerization domain. However, it lacks the C-terminal SH3-like domain of DtxR/IdeR. The metal ion binding site of MntR is located at the interface of the two domains, whereas the DtxR/IdeR subunit contains two metal ion binding sites, the primary and ancillary sites, separated by 9 Å. In this paper, we reported the crystal structures of the apo and Mn2+-bound forms of MntR from Bacillus halodurans, and analyze the structural basis of the metal ion binding site. The crystal structure of the Mn2+-bound form is almost identical to the apo form of MntR. In the Mn2+-bound structure, one subunit contains a binuclear cluster of manganese ions, the A and C sites, but the other subunit forms a mononuclear complex. Structural data about MntR from B. halodurans supports the previous hypothesizes about manganese-specific activation mechanism of MntR homologues.
Subject(s)
Bacillus/ultrastructure , Bacterial Proteins/ultrastructure , Manganese/metabolism , Repressor Proteins/ultrastructure , Allosteric Site , Amino Acid Sequence , Bacillus/metabolism , Bacterial Proteins/isolation & purification , Bacterial Proteins/metabolism , Crystallography, X-Ray , Models, Molecular , Protein Domains , Recombinant Proteins/isolation & purification , Recombinant Proteins/metabolism , Recombinant Proteins/ultrastructure , Repressor Proteins/isolation & purification , Repressor Proteins/metabolism , Sequence AlignmentABSTRACT
The cellular redox state of organisms continues to fluctuate during the metabolism. All organisms have various sensors that help detect and adapt to changes in the redox state. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotides (NAD+/NADH), which are involved in various cellular metabolic activities as cofactors, have been revealed as the key molecules sensing the intra-cellular redox state. The Rex family members are well conserved transcriptional repressors that regulate the expression of respiratory genes by sensing the redox state according to the intra-cellular NAD+/NADH balance. Herein, we reported crystal structures of apo and NAD+- and NADH-bound forms of Rex from Thermotoga maritima to analyse the structural basis of transcriptional regulation depending on either NAD+ or NADH binding. The different orientation of the reduced nicotinamide group to helix α9 caused the rearrangement of N-terminal DNA binding domain, thus resulting in closed form of Rex to dissociate from cognate DNA. The structural data of Rex from T. maritima also support the previous redox-sensing mechanism models of Rex homologues.
Subject(s)
DNA, Bacterial/metabolism , Thermotoga maritima/metabolism , Transcription Factors/chemistry , Transcription Factors/metabolism , Bacterial Proteins/chemistry , Bacterial Proteins/metabolism , Binding Sites , Crystallography, X-Ray , Models, Molecular , NAD/metabolism , Oxidation-Reduction , Protein Binding , Protein Structure, Secondary , Thermotoga maritima/chemistryABSTRACT
Glutamine synthetase (GS) is an enzyme that regulates nitrogen metabolism and synthesizes glutamine via glutamate, ATP, and ammonia. GS is a homo-oligomeric protein of eight, ten, or twelve subunits, and each subunit-subunit interface has its own active site. GS can be divided into GS I, GS II, and GS III. GS I and GS III form dodecamer in bacteria and archaea, whereas GS II form decamer in eukaryotes. GS I can be further subdivided into GS I-α and GS I-ß according to its sequence and regulatory mechanism. GS is an essential protein for the survival of Helicobacter pylori which its infection could promote gastroduodenal diseases. Here, we determined the crystal structures of the GS from H. pylori (Hpy GS) in its apo- and substrate-bound forms at 2.8 Å and 2.9 Å resolution, respectively. Hpy GS formed a dodecamer composed of two hexameric rings stacked face-to-face. Hpy GS, which belongs to GS I, cannot be clearly classified as either GS I-α or GS I-ß based on its sequence and regulatory mechanism. In this study, we propose that Hpy GS could be classified as a new GS-I subfamily and provide structural information on the apo- and substrate-bound forms of the protein.
