2z86

Publication Abstract from PubMed

Elongation of glycosaminoglycan chains, such as heparan and chondroitin, is catalyzed by bi-functional glycosyltransferases, for which both 3-dimensional structures and reaction mechanisms remain unknown. The bacterial chondroitin polymerase K4CP catalyzes elongation of the chondroitin chain by alternatively transferring the GlcUA and GalNAc moiety from UDP-GlcUA and UDP-GalNAc to the non-reducing ends of the chondroitin chain. Here, we have determined the crystal structure of K4CP in the presence of UDP and UDP-GalNAc as well as with UDP and UDP-GlcUA. The structures consisted of two GT-A fold domains in which the two active sites were 60A apart. UDP-GalNAc and UDP-GlcUA were found at the active sites of the N-terminal and C-terminal domains, respectively. The present K4CP structures have provided the structural basis for further investigating the molecular mechanism of biosynthesis of chondroitin chain.

Crystal structure of chondroitin polymerase from Escherichia coli K4.,Osawa T, Sugiura N, Shimada H, Hirooka R, Tsuji A, Shirakawa T, Fukuyama K, Kimura M, Kimata K, Kakuta Y Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Jan 2;378(1):10-4. Epub 2008 Sep 2. PMID:18771653^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.