Bitopic integral membrane proteins with a single transmembrane helix play diverse roles in catalysis, cell signaling, and morphogenesis. Complete monospanning protein structures are needed to show how interaction between the transmembrane helix and catalytic domain might influence association with the membrane and function. We report crystal structures of full-length Saccharomyces cerevisiae lanosterol 14α-demethylase, a membrane monospanning cytochrome P450 of the CYP51 family that catalyzes the first postcyclization step in ergosterol biosynthesis and is inhibited by triazole drugs. The structures reveal a well-ordered N-terminal amphipathic helix preceding a putative transmembrane helix that would constrain the catalytic domain orientation to lie partly in the lipid bilayer. The structures locate the substrate lanosterol, identify putative substrate and product channels, and reveal constrained interactions with triazole antifungal drugs that are important for drug design and understanding drug resistance.M embrane proteins that span the lipid bilayer once constitute around 50% of all integral membrane proteins (1). Although monospanning membrane proteins carry out numerous key biological functions, including environmental sensing, organellespecific catalysis, and the regulation of cell morphology, only individual domains or subdomains are currently represented in the Protein Data Bank, and structural information about interactions between their transmembrane domains and extramembranous components is lacking. Cytochrome P450 proteins are prominent enzymes with orthologs found in all kingdoms of life. In eukaryotes, microsomal members of this major family of mixed-function mono-oxygenases contain a single transmembrane helix and can be grouped in two broad functional categories: biodefense, such as the first phase of xenobiotic detoxification, and core metabolism including reactions in sterol biosynthesis and fatty acid oxidation (2).The lanosterol 14α-demethylases or CYP51 enzymes, probably the most genetically ancient of the cytochrome P450 families, play a central role in cholesterol or ergosterol biosynthesis (3). CYP51s carry out three consecutive mono-oxygenase reaction cycles to remove the 14α-methyl group from lanosterol to yield 4,4-dimethyl-cholesta-8,14,24-trienol, a key precursor in cholesterol and ergosterol biosynthesis, releasing water and formic acid (3). Because of the key roles that CYP51s play in yeast, filamentous fungi, and some parasitic protozoa, these enzymes are therapeutic targets for antimicrobial agents, including fluconazole (FLC), voriconazole (VCZ), and itraconazole (ITC) (4). Fungal infections play an increasingly significant role in disease, impacting agriculture ecosystems and human health, especially in immunocompromised individuals (5-7) for whom antifungal resistance continually poses a threat (8). In humans CYP51 is being tested as a target for cholesterol-lowering drugs (9) and in antiangiogenic cancer therapies (10). A limited set of cytochrome P450 isoforms (1A2, 2C8, 2C...
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