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The conformation of a catalytic loop is central to GTPase activity on the ribosome

Åqvist, Johan and Kamerlin, Shina C L LU orcid (2015) In Biochemistry 54(2). p.56-546
Abstract

The translational GTPases hydrolyze GTP on the ribosome at several stages of the protein synthesis cycle. Because of the strong conservation of their catalytic center, these enzymes are expected to operate through a universal hydrolysis mechanism, in which a critical histidine residue together with the sarcin-ricin loop of the large ribosomal subunit is necessary for GTPase activation. Here we examine different possible pathways for GTP hydrolysis by EF-Tu through extensive computer simulations. We show that a conformational change of the peptide plane preceding this histidine has a decisive effect on the energetics of the reaction. This transition was predicted earlier by us and has recently been confirmed experimentally. It is found... (More)

The translational GTPases hydrolyze GTP on the ribosome at several stages of the protein synthesis cycle. Because of the strong conservation of their catalytic center, these enzymes are expected to operate through a universal hydrolysis mechanism, in which a critical histidine residue together with the sarcin-ricin loop of the large ribosomal subunit is necessary for GTPase activation. Here we examine different possible pathways for GTP hydrolysis by EF-Tu through extensive computer simulations. We show that a conformational change of the peptide plane preceding this histidine has a decisive effect on the energetics of the reaction. This transition was predicted earlier by us and has recently been confirmed experimentally. It is found to promote early proton transfer from water to the γ-phosphate group of GTP, followed by nucleophilic attack by hydroxide ion. The calculated reaction energetics is in good agreement with available kinetic data, for both wild-type and mutant versions of EF-Tu, and indicates that the latter may enforce a change in mechanism toward more concerted pathways.

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author
and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Catalytic Domain, Guanosine Triphosphate/metabolism, Hydrolysis, Models, Molecular, Mutation, Peptide Elongation Factor Tu/chemistry, Protein Conformation, Ribosomes/metabolism, Thermodynamics, Thermus thermophilus/chemistry
in
Biochemistry
volume
54
issue
2
pages
11 pages
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:25515218
  • scopus:84922455999
ISSN
0006-2960
DOI
10.1021/bi501373g
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
291895a1-55fb-41b7-a6ee-0b2c1d4c9684
date added to LUP
2025-01-11 21:45:51
date last changed
2025-04-20 11:53:59
@article{291895a1-55fb-41b7-a6ee-0b2c1d4c9684,
  abstract     = {{<p>The translational GTPases hydrolyze GTP on the ribosome at several stages of the protein synthesis cycle. Because of the strong conservation of their catalytic center, these enzymes are expected to operate through a universal hydrolysis mechanism, in which a critical histidine residue together with the sarcin-ricin loop of the large ribosomal subunit is necessary for GTPase activation. Here we examine different possible pathways for GTP hydrolysis by EF-Tu through extensive computer simulations. We show that a conformational change of the peptide plane preceding this histidine has a decisive effect on the energetics of the reaction. This transition was predicted earlier by us and has recently been confirmed experimentally. It is found to promote early proton transfer from water to the γ-phosphate group of GTP, followed by nucleophilic attack by hydroxide ion. The calculated reaction energetics is in good agreement with available kinetic data, for both wild-type and mutant versions of EF-Tu, and indicates that the latter may enforce a change in mechanism toward more concerted pathways.</p>}},
  author       = {{Åqvist, Johan and Kamerlin, Shina C L}},
  issn         = {{0006-2960}},
  keywords     = {{Catalytic Domain; Guanosine Triphosphate/metabolism; Hydrolysis; Models, Molecular; Mutation; Peptide Elongation Factor Tu/chemistry; Protein Conformation; Ribosomes/metabolism; Thermodynamics; Thermus thermophilus/chemistry}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{56--546}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Biochemistry}},
  title        = {{The conformation of a catalytic loop is central to GTPase activity on the ribosome}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bi501373g}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/bi501373g}},
  volume       = {{54}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}