Protein phosphatase 5 (Ppp5) is a serine/threonine protein phosphatase comprising a regulatory tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain N-terminal to its phosphatase domain. Ppp5 functions in signalling pathways that control cellular responses to stress, glucocorticoids and DNA damage. Its phosphatase activity is suppressed by an autoinhibited conformation maintained by the TPR domain and a C-terminal subdomain. By interacting with the TPR domain, heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and fatty acids including arachidonic acid stimulate phosphatase activity. Here, we describe the structure of the autoinhibited state of Ppp5, revealing mechanisms of TPR-mediated phosphatase inhibition and Hsp90-and arachidonic acid-induced stimulation of phosphatase activity. The TPR domain engages with the catalytic channel of the phosphatase domain, restricting access to the catalytic site. This autoinhibited conformation of Ppp5 is stabilised by the C-terminal aJ helix that contacts a region of the Hsp90-binding groove on the TPR domain. Hsp90 activates Ppp5 by disrupting TPR-phosphatase domain interactions, permitting substrate access to the constitutively active phosphatase domain, whereas arachidonic acid prompts an alternate conformation of the TPR domain, destabilising the TPRphosphatase domain interface.

BIRD's eye view: Adding periodic BIRD J‐refocusing (BIRD=bilinear rotation decoupling) to data acquisition in an HSQC experiment causes broadband homonuclear decoupling, giving a single signal for each proton chemical shift. This pure shift method improves both resolution and signal‐to‐noise ratio, without the need for special data processing.

Phosphoryl transfer reactions are ubiquitous in biology and metal fluoride complexes have played a central role in structural approaches to understanding how they are catalyzed. In particular, numerous structures of AlFx-containing complexes have been reported to be transition state analogs (TSAs). A survey of nucleotide kinases has proposed a correlation between the pH of the crystallization solution and the number of coordinated fluorides in the resulting aluminum fluoride TSA complexes formed. Enzyme ligands crystallized above pH 7.0 were attributed to AlF3, whereas those crystallized at or below pH 7.0 were assigned as AlF4-. We use 19F NMR to show that for beta-phosphoglucomutase from Lactococcus lactis, the pH-switch in fluoride coordination does not derive from an AlF4- moiety converting into AlF3. Instead, AlF4- is progressively replaced by MgF3- as the pH increases. Hence, the enzyme prioritizes anionic charge at the expense of preferred native trigonal geometry over a very broad range of pH. We demonstrate similar behavior for two phosphate transfer enzymes that represent typical biological phosphate transfer catalysts: an amino acid phosphatase, phosphoserine phosphatase from Methanococcus jannaschii and a nucleotide kinase, phosphoglycerate kinase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus. Finally, we establish that at near-physiological ratios of aluminum to magnesium, aluminum can dominate over magnesium in the enzyme-metal fluoride inhibitory TSA complexes, and hence is the more likely origin of some of the physiological effects of fluoride.

Prior evidence supporting the direct observation of phosphorane intermediates in enzymatic phosphoryl transfer reactions was based on the interpretation of electron density corresponding to trigonal species bridging the donor and acceptor atoms. Close examination of the crystalline state of β-phosphoglucomutase, the archetypal phosphorane intermediate-containing enzyme, reveals that the trigonal species is not PO − 3 , but is MgF − 3 (trifluoromagnesate). Although MgF − 3 complexes are transition state analogues rather than phosphoryl group transfer reaction intermediates, the presence of fluorine nuclei in near-transition state conformations offers new opportunities to explore the nature of the interactions, in particular the independent measures of local electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding distributions using 19 F NMR. Measurements on three β-PGM-MgF − 3 -sugar phosphate complexes show a remarkable relationship between NMR chemical shifts, primary isotope shifts, NOEs, cross hydrogen bond F⋯H-N scalar couplings, and the atomic positions determined from the highresolution crystal structure of the β-PGM-MgF − 3 -G6P complex. The measurements provide independent validation of the structural and isoelectronic MgF − 3 model of near-transition state conformations.19F NMR | phosphoryl transfer enzyme | transition state analogue | trifluoromagnesate T he mono-and diesters of phosphoric acid have commanding and ubiquitous roles in all species of life. As structural components they show remarkable stability to spontaneous hydrolysis under near physiological conditions (25°C), with half-lives for P-O bond cleavage in phosphate diesters estimated at ca. 10 7 years and for monoesters ca. 10 12 years (1, 2). Yet, they are susceptible to enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis and phosphoryl group transfer reactions either between two oxygens, or between oxygen and nitrogen or sulfur, with turnover numbers adequate to support a vast array of biological processes, e.g. Serratia nuclease k cat ca. 2; 500 s −1 (3), E. coli alkaline phosphatase k cat ≥ 45 s −1 (4), and human protein tyrosine phosphatase β k cat ca.