Hydrodynamic properties of Vibrio harveyi acyl carrier protein and its fatty-acylated derivatives

Substrate Recognition and Catalytic Mechanism of the Phosphate Acyltransferase PlsX from Bacillus subtilis

Phosphate: acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) acyltransferase PlsX is a peripheral enzyme catalysing acyl transfer to orthophosphate in phospholipid synthesis. Little is known about how it recognises substrates and catalyses the acyl transfer. Here we show that its active site includes many residues lining a long, narrow gorge at the dimeric interface, two positive residues forming a positive ACP docking pad next to the interfacial gorge, and a number of strictly conserved residues significantly contributing to the catalytic activity. These findings suggest a substrate recognition mode and a catalytic mechanism that are different from those of phosphotransacetylases catalysing a similar acyl transfer reaction. The catalytic mechanism involves substrate activation and transition-state stabilization by two strictly conserved residues, Lys184 and Asn229. Another noticeable feature of the catalysis is the release of the acyl phosphate product near the membrane, which might facilitate its membrane insertion.

NMR solution structure and biophysical characterization of Vibrio harveyi acyl carrier protein A75H: effects of divalent metal ions

Bacterial acyl carrier protein (ACP) is a highly anionic, 9 kDa protein that functions as a cofactor protein in fatty acid biosynthesis. Escherichia coli ACP is folded at neutral pH and in the absence of divalent cations, while Vibrio harveyi ACP, which is very similar at 86% sequence identity, is unfolded under the same conditions. V. harveyi ACP adopts a folded conformation upon the addition of divalent cations such as Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) and a mutant, A75H, was previously identified that restores the folded conformation at pH 7 in the absence of divalent cations. In this study we sought to understand the unique folding behavior of V. harveyi ACP using NMR spectroscopy and biophysical methods. The NMR solution structure of V. harveyi ACP A75H displays the canonical ACP structure with four helices surrounding a hydrophobic core, with a narrow pocket closed off from the solvent to house the acyl chain. His-75, which is charged at neutral pH, participates in a stacking interaction with Tyr-71 in the far C-terminal end of helix IV. pH titrations and the electrostatic profile of ACP suggest that V. harveyi ACP is destabilized by anionic charge repulsion around helix II that can be partially neutralized by His-75 and is further reduced by divalent cation binding. This is supported by differential scanning calorimetry data which indicate that calcium binding further increases the melting temperature of V. harveyi ACP A75H by ∼20 °C. Divalent cation binding does not alter ACP dynamics on the ps-ns timescale as determined by (15)N NMR relaxation experiments, however, it clearly stabilizes the protein fold as observed by hydrogen-deuterium exchange studies. Finally, we demonstrate that the E. coli ACP H75A mutant is similarly unfolded as wild-type V. harveyi ACP, further stressing the importance of this particular residue for proper protein folding.

Bacterial fatty acid synthesis and its relationships with polyketide synthetic pathways

This review presents the most thoroughly studied bacterial fatty acid synthetic pathway, that of Escherichia coli and then discusses the exceptions to the E. coli pathway present in other bacteria. The known interrelationships between the fatty acid and polyketide synthetic pathways are also assessed, mainly in the Streptomyces group of bacteria. Finally, we present a compendium of methods for analysis of bacterial fatty acid synthetic pathways.

Acyl carrier protein: structure–function relationships in a conserved multifunctional protein family

Acyl carrier protein (ACP) is a universal and highly conserved carrier of acyl intermediates during fatty acid synthesis. In yeast and mammals, ACP exists as a separate domain within a large multifunctional fatty acid synthase polyprotein (type I FAS), whereas it is a small monomeric protein in bacteria and plastids (type II FAS). Bacterial ACPs are also acyl donors for synthesis of a variety of products, including endotoxin and acylated homoserine lactones involved in quorum sensing; the distinct and essential nature of these processes in growth and pathogenesis make ACP-dependent enzymes attractive antimicrobial drug targets. Additionally, ACP homologues are key components in the production of secondary metabolites such as polyketides and nonribosomal peptides. Many ACPs exhibit characteristic structural features of natively unfolded proteins in vitro, with a dynamic and flexible conformation dominated by 3 parallel α helices that enclose the thioester-linked acyl group attached to a phosphopantetheine prosthetic group. ACP conformation may also be influenced by divalent cations and interaction with partner enzymes through its “recognition” helix II, properties that are key to its ability to alternately sequester acyl groups and deliver them to the active sites of ACP-dependent enzymes. This review highlights recent progress in defining how the structural features of ACP are related to its multiple carrier roles in fatty acid metabolism.

Electrospray ionization mass spectra of acyl carrier protein are insensitive to its solution phase conformation

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) can be used to monitor conformational changes of proteins in solution based on the charge state distribution (CSD) of the corresponding gas-phase ions, although relatively few studies of acidic proteins have been reported. Here, we have compared the CSD and solution structure of recombinant Vibrio harveyi acyl carrier protein (rACP), a small acidic protein whose secondary and tertiary structure can be manipulated by pH, fatty acylation, and site-directed mutagenesis. Circular dichroism and intrinsic fluorescence demonstrated that apo-rACP adopts a folded helical conformation in aqueous solution below pH 6 or in 50% acetonitrile/0.1% formic acid, but is unfolded at neutral and basic pH values. A rACP mutant, in which seven conserved acidic residues were replaced with their corresponding neutral amides, was folded over the entire pH range of 5 to 9. However, under the same solvent conditions, both wild type and mutant ACPs exhibited similar CSDs (6(+)-9(+) species) at all pH values. Covalent attachment of myristic acid to the phosphopantetheine prosthetic group of rACP, which is known to stabilize a folded conformation in solution, also had little influence on its CSD in either positive or negative ion modes. Overall, our results are consistent with ACP as a "natively unfolded" protein in a dynamic conformational equilibrium, which allows access to (de)protonation events during the electrospray process.

DNA reshaping by MukB. Right-handed knotting, left-handed supercoiling

MukB is a bacterial SMC (structural maintenance of chromosome) protein required for faithful chromosome segregation in Escherichia coli. We report here that purified MukB introduces right-handed knots into DNA in the presence of type-2 topoisomerase, indicating that the protein promotes intramolecular DNA condensation. The pattern of generated knots suggests that MukB, similar to eukaryotic condensins, stabilizes large right-handed DNA loops. In contrast to eukaryotic condensins, however, the net supercoiling stabilized by MukB was negative. Furthermore, DNA reshaping by MukB did not require ATP. These data establish that bacterial condensins alter the shape of double-stranded DNA in vitro and lend support to the notions that the right-handed knotting is the most conserved biochemical property of condensins. Finally, we found that MukB can be eluted from a heparin column in two distinct forms, one of which is inert in DNA binding or reshaping. Furthermore, we find that the activity of MukB is reversibly attenuated during chromatographic separation. Thus, MukB has a unique set of topological properties, compared with other SMC proteins, and is likely to exist in two different conformations.

Site-directed mutagenesis of acyl carrier protein (ACP) reveals amino acid residues involved in ACP structure and acyl-ACP synthetase activity

Acyl carrier protein (ACP) interacts with many different enzymes during the synthesis of fatty acids, phospholipids, and other specialized products in bacteria. To examine the structural and functional roles of amino acids previously implicated in interactions between the ACP polypeptide and fatty acids attached to the phosphopantetheine prosthetic group, recombinant Vibrio harveyi ACP and mutant derivatives of conserved residues Phe-50, Ile-54, Ala-59, and Tyr-71 were prepared from glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins. Circular dichroism revealed that, unlike Escherichia coli ACP, V. harveyi-derived ACPs are unfolded at neutral pH in the absence of divalent cations; all except F50A and I54A recovered native conformation upon addition of MgCl(2). Mutant I54A was not processed to the holo form by ACP synthase. Some mutations significantly decreased catalytic efficiency of ACP fatty acylation by V. harveyi acyl-ACP synthetase relative to recombinant ACP, e.g. F50A (4%), I54L (20%), and I54V (31%), whereas others (V12G, Y71A, and A59G) had less effect. By contrast, all myristoylated ACPs examined were effective substrates for the luminescence-specific V. harveyi myristoyl-ACP thioesterase. Conformationally sensitive gel electrophoresis at pH 9 indicated that fatty acid attachment stabilizes mutant ACPs in a chain length-dependent manner, although stabilization was decreased for mutants F50A and A59G. Our results indicate that (i) residues Ile-54 and Phe-50 are important in maintaining native ACP conformation, (ii) residue Ala-59 may be directly involved in stabilization of ACP structure by acyl chain binding, and (iii) acyl-ACP synthetase requires native ACP conformation and involves interaction with fatty acid binding pocket residues, whereas myristoyl-ACP thioesterase is insensitive to acyl donor structure.