title: Effects of replacement of active site residue glutamine 231 on activity and allosteric properties of aspartate transcarbamoylase.
abstract: Since crystallographic studies on Escherichia coli aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) indicate that Gln 231 is in the active site of the enzyme and participates in the binding of the substrate, aspartate, it seemed of interest to examine mutant enzymes in which Gln 231 was replaced by Asn or Ile. The two mutant forms containing amino acid substitutions were characterized by a combination of steady-state kinetics, hydrodynamic measurements, and equilibrium ligand binding techniques. Both mutant forms exhibited a dramatic reduction in the affinity of the protein for substrates and substrate analogues as well as a very large decrease in catalytic activity. Moreover, the amino acid substitutions introduced within the active site of the enzyme led to unusual allosteric properties in the mutant enzymes. Although the bisubstrate analogue N-(phosphonoacetyl)-L-aspartate promotes the characteristic global conformational change in the mutant forms that is observed with the wild-type enzyme, the combination of substrate and substrate analogue does not. Cooperativity with respect to substrate binding is largely reduced compared to wild-type ATCase. Also, the effector molecules ATP and CTP which bind to the regulatory chains have dramatic effects on the activity of the mutant enzymes containing replacements for Gln 231 in the catalytic chains. In stark contrast to the wild-type enzyme, in which effects of nucleotides are manifested primarily by changes in the K0.5 of the enzyme, ATP and CTP have large effects on the Vmax of the mutant enzymes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Burman
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Schachman
mesh_terms: D000494:Allosteric Regulation; D001221:Aspartate Carbamoyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D001665:Binding Sites; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D005973:Glutamine; D007700:Kinetics; D008024:Ligands; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010746:Phosphonoacetic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D005973:Glutamine; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C013195:sparfosic acid; D001221:Aspartate Carbamoyltransferase; D010746:Phosphonoacetic Acid