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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Choline Kinase is a key component of the Kennedy pathway that converts choline into a number of structural and signalling lipids that are essential for cell growth and survival. One member of the family, Choline Kinase-alpha (ChoKalpha) is frequently up-regulated in human cancers, and expression of ChoKalpha is sufficient to transform cells. Consequently ChoKalpha has been studied as a potential target for therapeutic agents in cancer research. Despite great interest in the enzyme, mechanistic studies have not been reported. In this study, a combination of initial velocity and product inhibition studies, together with the kinetic and structural characterisation of a novel ChoKalpha inhibitor is used to support a mechanism of action for human ChoKalpha. Substrate and inhibition kinetics are consistent with an iso double displacement mechanism, in which the gamma-phosphate from ATP is transferred to choline in two distinct steps via a phospho-enzyme intermediate. Co-crystal structures, and existing site-specific mutation studies, support an important role for Asp306, in stabilising the phospho-enzyme intermediate. The kinetics also indicate a distinct kinetic (isomerisation) step associated with product release, which may be attributed to a conformational change in the protein to disrupt an interaction between Asp306 and the phosphocholine product, facilitating product release. This study describes a mechanism for ChoKalpha that is unusual amongst kinases, and highlights the availability of different enzyme states that can be exploited for drug discovery.

Kinetic and mechanistic characterisation of Choline Kinase-alpha.,Hudson CS, Knegtel RM, Brown K, Charlton PA, Pollard JR Biochim Biophys Acta. 2013 Jun;1834(6):1107-16. doi:, 10.1016/j.bbapap.2013.02.008. Epub 2013 Feb 13. PMID:23416529^[1]

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