title: Crystal structure of human ornithine aminotransferase complexed with the highly specific and potent inhibitor 5-fluoromethylornithine.
abstract: Ornithine aminotransferase (l-ornithine:2-oxoacid delta-aminotransferase; EC 2.6.1.13), a pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-dependent mitochondrial enzyme controls the l-ornithine level in tissues by catalyzing the transfer of the delta-amino group of l-ornithine to 2-oxoglutarate, producing l-glutamate- gamma-semialdehyde and l-glutamate. (2S, 5S)-5-Fluoromethylornithine is the only inhibitor exclusively specific for ornithine aminotransferase known to date. Both in vitro and in vivo, it blocks the enzyme by a suicide reaction leading to a covalent adduct with the cofactor. The crystal structure of the enzyme-inhibitor complex was solved at a resolution of 1.95 A. No significant conformational changes compared with the native enzyme structure were observed. The structure reveals the atomic details of the cofactor-inhibitor adduct and its interactions with the active site of the enzyme. The main residues responsible for specific binding of the inhibitor are Arg180, which forms a strong salt bridge with the alpha-carboxylate and Tyr55, which is involved in a short hydrogen bond with the alpha-amino group. The experimental observation that in the racemic mixture, (2S, 5S)-5-fluoromethylornithine is exclusively responsible for the enzyme inhibition can be explained on the basis of the active site topology. Model building studies strongly suggest that the natural substrate l-ornithine, in its external aldimine adduct with the enzyme, makes use of the same recognition site as the inhibitor. It is proposed that the neutralization of the active site Arg413 by a salt bridge with Glu235 also plays an important role in productive binding of both 5-fluoromethylornithine and l-ornithine. Arg180 and Arg413 are believed to be instrumental in recognition of l-glutamate, by binding its gamma and alpha-carboxylate groups, respectively. This requires a different side-chain conformation of Glu235. Lys292 is the only obvious candidate for catalyzing the rate-limiting proton transfer steps in the transamination reaction.
authors.affiliation: Division of Structural Biology Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, Basel, CH-4056, Switzerland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Storici
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Capitani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schirmer
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Jansonius
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D006801:Humans; D015591:Microspectrophotometry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009952:Ornithine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D009953:Ornithine-Oxo-Acid Transaminase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012996:Solutions; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D012996:Solutions; C057405:5-fluoromethylornithine; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D009952:Ornithine; D009953:Ornithine-Oxo-Acid Transaminase