title: Structural and biochemical characterization of Chlamydia trachomatis hypothetical protein CT263 supports that menaquinone synthesis occurs through the futalosine pathway.
abstract: The obligate intracellular human pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis is the etiological agent of blinding trachoma and sexually transmitted disease. Genomic sequencing of Chlamydia indicated this medically important bacterium was not exclusively dependent on the host cell for energy. In order for the electron transport chain to function, electron shuttling between membrane-embedded complexes requires lipid-soluble quinones (e.g. menaquionone or ubiquinone). The sources or biosynthetic pathways required to obtain these electron carriers within C. trachomatis are poorly understood. The 1.58Å crystal structure of C. trachomatis hypothetical protein CT263 presented here supports a role in quinone biosynthesis. Although CT263 lacks sequence-based functional annotation, the crystal structure of CT263 displays striking structural similarity to 5'-methylthioadenosine nucleosidase (MTAN) enzymes. Although CT263 lacks the active site-associated dimer interface found in prototypical MTANs, co-crystal structures with product (adenine) or substrate (5'-methylthioadenosine) indicate that the canonical active site residues are conserved. Enzymatic characterization of CT263 indicates that the futalosine pathway intermediate 6-amino-6-deoxyfutalosine (kcat/Km = 1.8 × 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)), but not the prototypical MTAN substrates (e.g. S-adenosylhomocysteine and 5'-methylthioadenosine), is hydrolyzed. Bioinformatic analyses of the chlamydial proteome also support the futalosine pathway toward the synthesis of menaquinone in Chlamydiaceae. This report provides the first experimental support for quinone synthesis in Chlamydia. Menaquinone synthesis provides another target for agents to combat C. trachomatis infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Barta
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York 10461.
authors.forename: Keisha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York 10461.
authors.forename: Hongling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Protein Structure Laboratory, Del Shankel Structural Biology Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, and.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lovell
authors.affiliation: Industrial Macromolecular Crystallography Association-Collaborative Access Team, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Argonne, Illinois 60439.
authors.forename: Kevin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Battaile
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York 10461.
authors.forename: Vern L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Schramm
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045,. Electronic address: pshefty@ku.edu.
authors.forename: P Scott
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Hefty
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000378:metabolism*; D019295:Computational Biology; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D003839:Deoxyadenosines / Q000737:chemistry; D008024:Ligands; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009705:Nucleosides / Q000737:chemistry; D009708:Nucleotidases / Q000737:chemistry; D011485:Protein Binding; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D020543:Proteome; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D012435:S-Adenosylhomocysteine / Q000737:chemistry; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013872:Thionucleosides / Q000737:chemistry; D024482:Vitamin K 2 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003839:Deoxyadenosines; D008024:Ligands; D009705:Nucleosides; D020543:Proteome; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013872:Thionucleosides; C122040:futalosine; D024482:Vitamin K 2; C008500:5'-methylthioadenosine; D012435:S-Adenosylhomocysteine; D009708:Nucleotidases
keywords: Chlamydia; Crystallography; Enzyme Kinetics; Quinone; Respiration