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Acetyl-CoA carboxylase is found in all animals, plants, and bacteria and catalyzes the first committed step in fatty acid synthesis. It is a multicomponent enzyme containing a biotin carboxylase activity, a biotin carboxyl carrier protein, and a carboxyltransferase functionality. Here we report the X-ray structure of the biotin carboxylase component from Escherichia coli determined to 2.4-A resolution. The structure was solved by a combination of multiple isomorphous replacement and electron density modification procedures. The overall fold of the molecule may be described in terms of three structural domains. The N-terminal region, formed by Met 1-Ile 103, adopts a dinucleotide binding motif with five strands of parallel beta-sheet flanked on either side by alpha-helices. The "B-domain" extends from the main body of the subunit where it folds into two alpha-helical regions and three strands of beta-sheet. Following the excursion into the B-domain, the polypeptide chain folds back into the body of the protein where it forms an eight-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet. In addition to this major secondary structural element, the C-terminal domain also contains a smaller three-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet and seven alpha-helices. The active site of the enzyme has been identified tentatively by a difference Fourier map calculated between X-ray data from the native crystals and from crystals soaked in a Ag+/biotin complex. Those amino acid residues believed to form part of the active site pocket include His 209-Glu 211, His 236-Glu 241, Glu 276, Ile 287-Glu 296, and Arg 338.2+ represents the first X-ray model of a biotin-dependent carboxylase.

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase catalyzes the first committed step in fatty acid synthesis. In Escherichia coli, the enzyme is composed of three distinct protein components: biotin carboxylase, biotin carboxyl carrier protein, and carboxyltransferase. The biotin carboxylase component has served for many years as a paradigm for mechanistic studies devoted toward understanding more complicated biotin-dependent carboxylases. The three-dimensional x-ray structure of an unliganded form of E. coli biotin carboxylase was originally solved in 1994 to 2.4-Å resolution. This study revealed the architecture of the enzyme and demonstrated that the protein belongs to the ATP-grasp superfamily. Here we describe the threedimensional structure of the E. coli biotin carboxylase complexed with ATP and determined to 2.5-Å resolution.

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase catalyzes the first committed step in the biosynthesis of long-chain fatty acids. The Escherichia coli form of the enzyme consists of a biotin carboxylase protein, a biotin carboxyl carrier protein, and a carboxyltransferase protein. In this report a system for site-directed mutagenesis of the biotin carboxylase component is described. The wild-type copy of the enzyme, derived from the chromosomal gene, is separated from the mutant form of the enzyme which is coded on a plasmid. Separation of the two forms is accomplished using a histidine-tag attached to the amino terminus of the mutant form of the enzyme and nickel affinity chromatography. This system was used to mutate four active site residues, E211, E288, N290, and R292, to alanine followed by their characterization with respect to several different reactions catalyzed by biotin carboxylase. In comparison to wild-type biotin carboxylase, all four mutant enzymes gave very similar results in all the different assays, suggesting that the mutated residues have a common function. The mutations did not affect the bicarbonate-dependent ATPase reaction. In contrast, the mutations decreased the maximal velocity of the biotin-dependent ATPase reaction 1000-fold but did not affect the Km for biotin. The activity of the ATP synthesis reaction catalyzed by biotin carboxylase where carbamoyl phosphate reacts with ADP was decreased 100-fold by the mutations. The ATP synthesis reaction required biotin to stimulate the activity in the wild-type; however, biotin did not stimulate the activity of the mutant enzymes. The results showed that the mutations have abolished the ability of biotin to increase the activity of the enzyme. Thus, E211, E288, N290, and R292 were responsible, at least in part, for the substrate-induced synergism by biotin in biotin carboxylase.