title: Structure of glutathione reductase from Escherichia coli at 1.86 A resolution: comparison with the enzyme from human erythrocytes.
abstract: The crystal structure of the dimeric flavoenzyme glutathione reductase from Escherichia coli was determined and refined to an R-factor of 16.8% at 1.86 A resolution. The molecular 2-fold axis of the dimer is local but very close to a possible crystallographic 2-fold axis; the slight asymmetry could be rationalized from the packing contacts. The 2 crystallographically independent subunits of the dimer are virtually identical, yielding no structural clue on possible cooperativity. The structure was compared with the well-known structure of the homologous enzyme from human erythrocytes with 52% sequence identity. Significant differences were found at the dimer interface, where the human enzyme has a disulfide bridge, whereas the E. coli enzyme has an antiparallel beta-sheet connecting the subunits. The differences at the glutathione binding site and in particular a deformation caused by a Leu-Ile exchange indicate why the E. coli enzyme accepts trypanothione much better than the human enzyme. The reported structure provides a frame for explaining numerous published engineering results in detail and for guiding further ones.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Organische Chemie und Biochemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Mittl
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003460:Crystallization; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000201:enzymology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D005980:Glutathione Reductase / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D012997:Solvents; D013045:Species Specificity; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D012997:Solvents; D014867:Water; D005980:Glutathione Reductase