title: 13C NMR studies of complexes of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase formed with methotrexate and with folic acid.
abstract: 13C NMR studies of 13C-labelled ligands bound to dihydrofolate reductase provide (DHFR) a powerful means of detecting and characterizing multiple bound conformations. Such studies of complexes of Escherichia coli DHFR with [4,7,8a,9-13C]- and [2,4a,6-13C]methotrexate (MTX) and [4,6,8a-13C]- and [2,4a,7,9-13C]folic acid confirm that in the binary complexes, MTX binds in two conformational forms and folate binds as a single conformation. Earlier studies on the corresponding complexes with Lactobacillus casei DHFR indicated that, in this case, MTX binds as a single conformation whereas folate binds in multiple conformational forms (both in its binary complex and ternary complex with NADP+); two of the bound conformational states for the folate complexes are very different from each other in that there is a 180 degrees difference in their pteridine ring orientation. In contrast, the two different conformational states observed for MTX bound to E. coli DHFR do not show such a major difference in ring orientation and bind with N1 protonated in both forms. The major difference appears to involve the manner in which the 4-NH2 group of MTX binds to the enzyme (although the same protein residues are probably involved in both interactions). Addition of either NADP+ or NADPH to the E. coli DHFR-MTX complex results in a single set of 13C signals for bound methotrexate consistent with only one conformational form in the ternary complexes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Structure, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, UK.
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Birdsall
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feeney
mesh_terms: D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology*; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D009249:NADP / Q000378:metabolism; D013762:Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009249:NADP; D005492:Folic Acid; D013762:Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase; D008727:Methotrexate