Human CD38 is a multifunctional protein involved in diverse functions. As an enzyme, it is responsible for the synthesis of two Ca2+ messengers, cADPR and NAADP; as an antigen, it is involved in regulating cell adhesion, differentiation, and proliferation. Besides, CD38 is a marker of progression of HIV-1 infection and a negative prognostic marker of B-CLL. We have determined the crystal structure of the soluble extracellular domain of human CD38 to 1.9 A resolution. The enzyme's overall topology is similar to the related proteins CD157 and the Aplysia ADP-ribosyl cyclase, except with large structural changes at the two termini. The extended positively charged N terminus has lateral associations with the other CD38 molecule in the crystallographic asymmetric unit. The analysis of the CD38 substrate binding models revealed two key residues that may be critical in controlling CD38's multifunctionality of NAD hydrolysis, ADP-ribosyl cyclase, and cADPR hydrolysis activities.

The sarA locus in Staphylococcus aureus controls the expression of many virulence genes. The sarA regulatory molecule, SarA, is a 14.7-kDa protein (124 residues) that binds to the promoter region of target genes. Here we report the 2.6 Å-resolution x-ray crystal structure of the dimeric winged helix SarA protein, which differs from the published SarA structure dramatically. In the crystal packing, multiple dimers of SarA form a scaffold, possibly via divalent cations. Mutations of individual residues within the DNAbinding helix-turn-helix and the winged region as well as within the metal-binding pocket implicate basic residues R84 and R90 within the winged region to be critical in DNA binding, whereas acidic residues D88 and E89 (wing), D8 and E11 (metal-binding pocket), and cysteine 9 are essential for SarA function. These data suggest that the winged region of the winged helix protein participates in DNA binding and activation, whereas the putative divalent cation binding pocket is only involved in gene function.

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is a pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the reversible conversion of serine and tetrahydrofolate to glycine and methylenetetrahydrofolate. This reaction generates single carbon units for purine, thymidine, and methionine biosynthesis. The enzyme is a homotetramer comprising two obligate dimers and four pyridoxal phosphate-bound active sites. The mammalian enzyme is present in cells in both catalytically active and inactive forms. The inactive form is a ternary complex that results from the binding of glycine and 5-formyltetrahydrofolate polyglutamate, a slow tight-binding inhibitor. The crystal structure of a close analogue of the inactive form of murine cytoplasmic SHMT (cSHMT), lacking only the polyglutamate tail of the inhibitor, has been determined to 2.9 A resolution. This first structure of a ligand-bound mammalian SHMT allows identification of amino acid residues involved in substrate binding and catalysis. It also reveals that the two obligate dimers making up a tetramer are not equivalent; one can be described as "tight-binding" and the other as "loose-binding" for folate. Both active sites of the tight-binding dimer are occupied by 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (5-formylTHF), whose N5-formyl carbon is within 4 A of the glycine alpha-carbon of the glycine-pyridoxal phosphate complex; the complex appears to be primarily in its quinonoid form. In the loose-binding dimer, 5-formylTHF is present in only one of the active sites, and its N5-formyl carbon is 5 A from the glycine alpha-carbon. The pyridoxal phosphates appear to be primarily present as geminal diamine complexes, with bonds to both glycine and the active site lysine. This structure suggests that only two of the four catalytic sites on SHMT are catalytically competent and that the cSHMT-glycine-5-formylTHF ternary complex is an intermediate state analogue of the catalytic complex associated with serine and glycine interconversion.

The enzymatic cleavage of the nicotinamide-glycosidic bond on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD ؉ ) has been proposed to go through an oxocarbenium ion-like transition state. In addition, a product inhibition effect by ADP-ribose (through the reorientation of the product) or GDP-ribose (through the formation of a covalently linked GDP-ribose dimer) was observed. These structural data provide insights into the understanding of multiple catalysis and clues for drug design.

Mammalian CD38 and its Aplysia homolog, ADP-ribosyl cyclase (cyclase), are two prominent enzymes that catalyze the synthesis and hydrolysis of cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR), a Ca 2؉ messenger molecule responsible for regulating a wide range of cellular functions. Although both use NAD as a substrate, the cyclase produces cADPR, whereas CD38 produces mainly ADPribose (ADPR). To elucidate the catalytic differences and the mechanism of cyclizing NAD, the crystal structure of a stable complex of the cyclase with an NAD analog, ribosyl-2F-2de-oxynicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (ribo-2-F-NAD), was determined. The results show that the analog was a substrate of the cyclase and that during the reaction, the nicotinamide group was released and a stable intermediate was formed. The terminal ribosyl unit at one end of the intermediate formed a close linkage with the catalytic residue (Glu-179), whereas the adenine ring at the other end stacked closely with Phe-174, suggesting that the latter residue is likely to be responsible for folding the linear substrate so that the two ends can be cyclized. Mutating Phe-174 indeed reduced cADPR production but enhanced ADPR production, converting the cyclase to be more CD38-like. Changing the equivalent residue in CD38, Thr-221 to Phe, correspondingly enhanced cADPR production, and the double mutation, Thr-221 to Phe and Glu-146 to Ala, effectively converted CD38 to a cyclase. This study provides the first detailed evidence of the cyclization process and demonstrates the feasibility of engineering the reactivity of the enzymes by mutation, setting the stage for the development of tools to manipulate cADPR metabolism in vivo.Cyclic ADP-ribose is a novel cyclic nucleotide with Ca 2ϩ -mobilizing activity targeting the endoplasmic reticulum. Its activity was first described in sea urchin eggs (1, 2), and cADPR 3 has since been established as a second messenger molecule responsible for regulating a wide range of physiological functions, from fission in the dinoflagellate (3) to social behavior in mice (Ref. 4 and reviewed in Refs. 5 and 6). The Aplysia ADPribosyl cyclase (cyclase) was the first protein identified that uses NAD, a linear substrate, and ligates its two ends to produce cADPR, with the release of the terminal moiety, nicotinamide (7). The cyclase is a soluble protein of 30 kDa and is present in large amounts in Aplysia ovotestis (7). It is also present in the neurons of the Aplysia buccal ganglion, where it is responsible for the synthesis of endogenous cADPR and the regulation of the evoked synaptic transmission (8). Recently, it is shown that depolarization of Aplysia neurons induces the translocation of the cyclase from the cytosol into the nucleus, providing a mechanism for fine tuning of nuclear Ca 2ϩ signals in neurons (9). CD38 is the major mammalian homolog of the cyclase and is responsible for regulating a wide range of physiological functions. Deletion of the CD38 gene in mice produces multiple defects, including impairment of insulin secretion (10), neutrophil chemota...