KIF1A alternately uses two loops to bind microtubules

The motor protein kinesin moves along microtubules, driven by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis. However, it remains unclear how kinesin converts the chemical energy into mechanical movement. We report crystal structures of monomeric kinesin KIF1A with three transition-state analogs: adenylyl imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-vanadate, and ADP-AlFx (aluminofluoride complexes). These structures, together with known structures of the ADP-bound state and the adenylyl-(beta,gamma-methylene) diphosphate (AMP-PCP)-bound state, show that kinesin uses two microtubule-binding loops in an alternating manner to change its interaction with microtubules during the ATP hydrolysis cycle; loop L11 is extended in the AMP-PNP structure, whereas loop L12 is extended in the ADP structure. ADP-vanadate displays an intermediate structure in which a conformational change in two switch regions causes both loops to be raised from the microtubule, thus actively detaching kinesin.     

Actin polymerization and ATP hydrolysis

F-actin is the major component of muscle thin filaments and, more generally, of the microfilaments of the dynamic, multifunctional cytoskeletal systems of nonmuscle eukaryotic cells. Polymeric F-actin is formed by reversible noncovalent self-association of monomeric G-actin. To understand the dynamics of microfilament systems in cells, the dynamics of polymerization of pure actin must be understood. The following model has emerged from recent work. During the polymerization process, adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) that is bound to G-actin is hydrolyzed to adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) that is bound to F-actin. The hydrolysis reaction occurs on the F-actin subsequent to the polymerization reaction in two steps: cleavage of ATP followed by the slower release of inorganic phosphate (Pi). As a result, at high rates of filament growth a transient cap of ATP-actin subunits exists at the ends of elongating filaments, and at steady state a stabilizing cap of ADP.Pi-actin subunits exists at the barbed ends of filaments. Cleavage of ATP results in a highly stable filament with bound ADP.Pi, and release of Pi destabilizes the filament. Thus these two steps of the hydrolytic reaction provide potential mechanisms for regulating the monomer-polymer transition.     

Muscle contraction and free energy transduction in biological systems

Muscle contraction occurs when the actin and myosin filaments in muscle are driven past each other by a cyclic interaction of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and actin with cross-bridges that extend from myosin. Current biochemical studies suggest that, during each adenosine triphosphatase cycle, the myosin cross-bridge alternates between two main conformations, which differ markedly in their strength of binding to actin and in their overall structure. Binding of ATP to the cross-bridge induces the weak-binding conformation, whereas inorganic phosphate release returns the cross-bridge to the strong-binding conformation. This cross-bridge cycle is similar to the kinetic cycle that drives active transport and illustrates the general principles of free energy transduction by adenosine triphosphatase systems.     

Actin-myosin interaction: inhibition of the myosin adenosine triphosphatase by actin

In the absence of magnesium ion, the addition of actin to myosin in a 1 :4 ratio has a strong inhibitory effect on the adenosine triphosphatase activity, in contrast to the well-known activating effect of actin in the presence of magnesium ion. This finding suggests that both effects result from a conformational change in the active site of the myosin adenosine triphosphatase.     

Expression and characterization of a functional myosin head fragment in Dictyostelium discoideum

The isolated head fragment of myosin is a motor protein that is able to use energy liberated from the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate to cause sliding movement of actin filaments. Expression of a myosin fragment nearly equivalent to the amino-terminal globular head domain, generally referred to as subfragment 1, has been achieved by transforming the eukaryotic organism Dictyostelium discoideum with a plasmid that carries a 2.6-kilobase fragment of the cloned Dictyostelium myosin heavy chain gene under the control of the Dictyostelium actin-15 promoter. The recombinant fragment of the myosin heavy chain was purified 2400-fold from one of the resulting cell lines and was found to be functional by the following criteria: the myosin head fragment copurified with the essential and regulatory myosin light chains, decorated actin filaments, and displayed actin-activated adenosine triphosphatase activity. In addition, motility assays in vitro showed that the recombinant myosin fragment is capable of supporting sliding movement of actin filaments.     

Mechanical rotation of the c subunit oligomer in ATP synthase (F0F1): direct observation

F0F1, found in mitochondria or bacterial membranes, synthesizes adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) coupling with an electrochemical proton gradient and also reversibly hydrolyzes ATP to form the gradient. An actin filament connected to a c subunit oligomer of F0 was able to rotate by using the energy of ATP hydrolysis. The rotary torque produced by the c subunit oligomer reached about 40 piconewton-nanometers, which is similar to that generated by the gamma subunit in the F1 motor. These results suggest that the gamma and c subunits rotate together during ATP hydrolysis and synthesis. Thus, coupled rotation may be essential for energy coupling between proton transport through F0 and ATP hydrolysis or synthesis in F1.     

Group I intron self-splicing with adenosine: evidence for a single nucleoside-binding site

For self-splicing of Tetrahymena ribosomal RNA precursor, guanosine binding is required for 5' splice-site cleavage and exon ligation. Whether these two reactions use the same or different guanosine-binding sites has been debated. A double mutation in a previously identified guanosine-binding site within the intron resulted in preference for adenosine (or adenosine triphosphate) as the substrate for cleavage at the 5' splice site. However, splicing was blocked in the exon ligation step. Blockage was reversed by a change from guanine to adenine at the 3' splice site. These results indicate that a single determinant specifies nucleoside binding for both steps of splicing. Furthermore, it suggests that RNA could form an active site specific for adenosine triphosphate.     

Domain movement in gelsolin: a calcium-activated switch

The actin-binding protein gelsolin is involved in remodeling the actin cytoskeleton during growth-factor signaling, apoptosis, cytokinesis, and cell movement. Calcium-activated gelsolin severs and caps actin filaments. The 3.4 angstrom x-ray structure of the carboxyl-terminal half of gelsolin (G4-G6) in complex with actin reveals the basis for gelsolin activation. Calcium binding induces a conformational rearrangement in which domain G6 is flipped over and translated by about 40 angstroms relative to G4 and G5. The structural reorganization tears apart the continuous beta sheet core of G4 and G6. This exposes the actin-binding site on G4, enabling severing and capping of actin filaments to proceed.     

Micelles protect membrane complexes from solution to vacuum

The ability to maintain interactions between soluble protein subunits in the gas phase of a mass spectrometer gives critical insight into the stoichiometry and interaction networks of protein complexes. Conversely, for membrane protein complexes in micelles, the transition into the gas phase usually leads to the disruption of interactions, particularly between cytoplasmic and membrane subunits, and a mass spectrum dominated by large aggregates of detergent molecules. We show that by applying nanoelectrospray to a micellar solution of a membrane protein complex, the heteromeric adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette transporter BtuC2D2, we can maintain the complex intact in the gas phase of a mass spectrometer. Dissociation of either transmembrane (BtuC) or cytoplasmic (BtuD) subunits uncovers modifications to the transmembrane subunits and cooperative binding of ATP. By protecting a membrane protein complex within a n-dodecyl-beta-d-maltoside micelle, we demonstrated a powerful strategy that will enable the subunit stoichiometry and ligand-binding properties of membrane complexes to be determined directly, by precise determination of the masses of intact complexes and dissociated subunits.     

Oxidative phosphorylation at the fin de siècle

Mitochondria produce most of the energy in animal cells by a process called oxidative phosphorylation. Electrons are passed along a series of respiratory enzyme complexes located in the inner mitochondrial membrane, and the energy released by this electron transfer is used to pump protons across the membrane. The resultant electrochemical gradient enables another complex, adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) synthase, to synthesize the energy carrier ATP. Important new mechanistic insights into oxidative phosphorylation have emerged from recent three-dimensional structural analyses of ATP synthase and two of the respiratory enzyme complexes, cytochrome bc1 and cytochrome c oxidase. This work, and new enzymological studies of ATP synthase's unusual catalytic mechanism, are reviewed here.     

Laser-stimulated luminescence used to measure x-ray diffraction of a contracting striated muscle

An integrating x-ray area detector that operates on the basis of laser-stimulated luminescence was used in a diffraction study of muscle contraction. The area detector has a dynamic range of 1 to 10(5), a sensitivity about 60 times greater with approximately 1/300 as much fog background as x-ray film. It is erasable and reusable but, like film, can integrate at a practically unlimited counting rate. The high sensitivity and wide dynamic range of the detector resulted in a sufficient reduction in the exposure time to make possible the recording of a clear x-ray diffraction pattern, with up to 2.0-nanometer axial spacing, from a contracting frog skeletal muscle in as little as 10 seconds with synchrotron radiation. During the isometric contraction of the muscle, most of the actin diffraction lines increased in intensity without noticeable changes in their peak positions. Changes also occurred in diffraction intensities from the myosin heads. The results indicate that during contraction the structure of the actin filaments differs from that in the rigor state, suggesting a possible structural change in the actin subunits themselves; the myosin heads during contraction retain the axial periodicity of the myosin filament and become aligned in a more perpendicular manner to the actin filaments.     

cAMP evokes long-term facilitation in Aplysia sensory neurons that requires new protein synthesis

Behavioral sensitization leads to both short- and long-term enhancement of synaptic transmission between the sensory and motor neurons of the gill-withdrawal reflex in Aplysia. Serotonin (5-HT), a transmitter important for short-term sensitization, can evoke long-term enhancement of synaptic strength detected 1 day later. Because 5-HT mediates short-term facilitation through adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein phosphorylation, the role of cAMP in the long-term modulation of this identified synapse was examined. Like 5-HT, cAMP can also evoke long-term facilitation lasting 24 hours. Unlike the short-term change, the long-lasting change is blocked by anisomycin, a reversible inhibitor of protein synthesis, and therefore must involve the synthesis of gene products not required for the short-term change.     

In vivo inhibition of growth of two hormone-dependent mammary tumors by dibutyryl cyclic AMP

Growth of hormone-dependent rat mammary tumors was arrested in vivo by N(6),O(2)'-dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate. Estrogen concentration did not change, but acid ribonuclease activity and synthesis increased during treatment with the dibutyryl cyclic nucleotide, as was shown during tumor regression due to hormonal deprivation. Growth arrest, thus, appears to derive from enhanced tissue catabolism.     

Structure and allostery of the PKA RIIβ tetrameric holoenzyme

In its physiological state, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase (PKA) is a tetramer that contains a regulatory (R) subunit dimer and two catalytic (C) subunits. We describe here the 2.3 angstrom structure of full-length tetrameric RIIβ(2):C(2) holoenzyme. This structure showing a dimer of dimers provides a mechanistic understanding of allosteric activation by cAMP. The heterodimers are anchored together by an interface created by the β4-β5 loop in the RIIβ subunit, which docks onto the carboxyl-terminal tail of the adjacent C subunit, thereby forcing the C subunit into a fully closed conformation in the absence of nucleotide. Diffusion of magnesium adenosine triphosphate (ATP) into these crystals trapped not ATP, but the reaction products, adenosine diphosphate and the phosphorylated RIIβ subunit. This complex has implications for the dissociation-reassociation cycling of PKA. The quaternary structure of the RIIβ tetramer differs appreciably from our model of the RIα tetramer, confirming the small-angle x-ray scattering prediction that the structures of each PKA tetramer are different.     

Structure of the nucleotide activation switch in glycogen phosphorylase a

Adenosine monophosphate is required for the activation of glycogen phosphorylase b and for release of the inhibition of phosphorylase a by glucose. Two molecules of adenosine monophosphate (AMP) bind to symmetry related sites at the subunit interface of the phosphorylase dimer. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binds to the same site, but does not promote catalytic activity. The structure of glucose-inhibited phosphorylase a bound to AMP and also of the complex formed with glucose and ATP is described. Crystallographic refinement of these complexes reveals that structural changes are associated with AMP but not ATP binding. The origin of these effects can be traced to different effector binding modes exhibited by AMP and ATP, respectively. The conformational changes associated with AMP binding traverse multiple paths in the enzyme and link the effector and catalytic sites.     

Brain tryptophan hydroxylation: dependence on arterial oxygen tension

The accumulation of cerebral 5-hydroxytryptophan after decarboxylase inhibition was decreased in rats maintained at arterial O(2) tensions below 60 mm-Hg. In contrast, brain lactate was stable above 40 mm-Hg and brain adenosine triphosphate, adenosine diphosphate, and adenosine monophosphate were unchanged above 30 mm-Hg. There was a linear correlation of brain 5-hydroxytryptophan accumulation to cerebral venous O(2) tension. Cerebral tryptophan hydroxylase appears to have a poor affinity for oxygen and to be affected by slight hypoxia. The resultant decreases in monoamine neurotransmitter metabolism may explain the behavioral changes of mild oxygen deprivation.