ABSTRACT
Neuropeptidases specialize in the hydrolysis of the small bioactive peptides that play a variety of signaling roles in the nervous and endocrine systems. One neuropeptidase, neurolysin, helps control the levels of the dopaminergic circuit modulator neurotensin and is a member of a fold group that includes the antihypertensive target angiotensin converting enzyme. We report the discovery of a potent inhibitor that, unexpectedly, binds away from the enzyme catalytic site. The location of the bound inhibitor suggests it disrupts activity by preventing a hinge-like motion associated with substrate binding and catalysis. In support of this model, the inhibition kinetics are mixed, with both noncompetitive and competitive components, and fluorescence polarization shows directly that the inhibitor reverses a substrate-associated conformational change. This new type of inhibition may have widespread utility in targeting neuropeptidases.
Subject(s)
Allosteric Regulation , Enzyme Inhibitors/chemistry , Metalloendopeptidases/chemistry , Protein Structure, Tertiary , Allosteric Site , Animals , Binding Sites/genetics , Biocatalysis/drug effects , Catalytic Domain , Crystallography, X-Ray , Enzyme Inhibitors/chemical synthesis , Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology , Fluorescence Polarization , Kinetics , Metalloendopeptidases/genetics , Metalloendopeptidases/metabolism , Models, Chemical , Models, Molecular , Molecular Structure , Mutation, Missense , Protein Binding , Rats , Substrate SpecificityABSTRACT
The crystal structure of AtPDF1B [Arabidopsis thaliana PDF (peptide deformylase) 1B; EC 3.5.1.88], a plant specific deformylase, has been determined at a resolution of 2.4 A (1 A=0.1 nm). The overall fold of AtPDF1B is similar to other peptide deformylases that have been reported. Evidence from the crystal structure and gel filtration chromatography indicates that AtPDF1B exists as a symmetric dimer. PDF1B is essential in plants and has a preferred substrate specificity towards the PS II (photosystem II) D1 polypeptide. Comparative analysis of AtPDF1B, AtPDF1A, and the type 1B deformylase from Escherichia coli, identifies a number of differences in substrate binding subsites that might account for variations in sequence preference. A model of the N-terminal five amino acids from the D1 polypeptide bound in the active site of AtPDF1B suggests an influence of Tyr(178) as a structural determinant for polypeptide substrate specificity through hydrogen bonding with Thr(2) in the D1 sequence. Kinetic analyses using a polypeptide mimic of the D1 N-terminus was performed on AtPDF1B mutated at Tyr(178) to alanine, phenylalanine or arginine (equivalent residue in AtPDF1A). The results suggest that, whereas Tyr(178) can influence catalytic activity, other residues contribute to the overall preference for the D1 polypeptide.
