Ribonucleotide reductase (RR) is an αnβn (RR1●RR2) complex that maintains balanced dNTP pools by reducing ribonucleoside diphosphates to deoxyribonucleoside diphosphates. RR1 is the catalytic subunit and RR2 houses the free radical required for catalysis. RR is allosterically regulated by its activator ATP and its inhibitor dATP, which regulate RR activity by inducing oligomerization of RR1. Here, we report the first X-ray structures of human RR1 bound to TTP-only, dATP-only, TTP●GDP, TTP●ATP, and TTP●dATP. These structures provide insights into ATP/dATP regulation of RR. At physiological dATP concentrations, RR1 forms inactive hexamers. We determined the first X-ray structure of the RR1●dATP hexamer and used single-particle electron microscopy to visualize the α6●ββ’ 1●dATP holo complex. Site-directed mutagenesis and functional assays confirm that hexamerization is a prerequisite for inhibition by dATP. Our data provide an elegant mechanism for regulating RR activity by dATP-induced oligomerization.

Ribonucleotide reductases (RRs) catalyze the rate-limiting step of de novo deoxynucleotide (dNTP) synthesis. Eukaryotic RRs consist of two proteins, RR1 (α) that contains the catalytic site and RR2 (β) that houses a diferrictyrosyl radical essential for ribonucleoside diphosphate reduction. Biochemical analysis has been combined with isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), X-ray crystallography and yeast genetics to elucidate the roles of two loop 2 mutations R293A and Q288A in Saccharomyces cerevisiae RR1 (ScRR1). These mutations, R293A and Q288A, cause lethality and severe S phase defects, respectively, in cells that use ScRR1 as the sole source of RR1 activity. Compared to the wild-type enzyme activity, R293A and Q288A mutants show 4% and 15%, respectively, for ADP reduction, whereas they are 20% and 23%, respectively, for CDP reduction. ITC data showed that R293A ScRR1 is unable to bind ADP and binds CDP with 2-fold lower affinity compared to wild-type ScRR1. With the Q288A ScRR1 mutant, there is a 6-fold loss of affinity for ADP binding and a 2-fold loss of affinity for CDP compared to the wild type. X-ray structures of R293A ScRR1 complexed with dGTP and AMPPNP–CDP [AMPPNP, adenosine 5-(β,γ-imido)triphosphate tetralithium salt] reveal that ADP is not bound at the catalytic site, and CDP binds farther from the catalytic site compared to wild type. Our in vivo functional analyses demonstrated that R293A cannot support mitotic growth, whereas Q288A can, albeit with a severe S phase defect. Taken together, our structure, activity, ITC and in vivo data reveal that the arginine 293 and glutamine 288 residues of ScRR1 are crucial in facilitating ADP and CDP substrate selection.

Eukaryotic ribonucleotide reductase (RR) catalyzes nucleoside diphosphate conversion to deoxynucleoside diphosphate. Crucial for rapidly dividing cells, RR is a target for cancer therapy. RR activity requires formation of a complex between subunits R1 and R2 in which the R2 C-terminal peptide binds to R1. Here we report crystal structures of heterocomplexes containing mammalian R2 C-terminal heptapeptide, P7 (Ac-1 FTLDADF 7 ) and its peptidomimetic P6 ( 1 Fmoc(Me) PhgLDChaDF 7 ) bound to Saccharomyces cerevisiae R1 (ScR1). P7 and P6, both of which inhibit ScRR, each bind at two contiguous sites containing residues that are highly conserved among eukaryotes. Such binding is quite distinct from that reported for prokaryotes. The Fmoc group in P6 peptide makes several hydrophobic interactions that contribute to its enhanced potency in binding to ScR1. Combining all of our results, we observe three distinct conformations for peptide binding to ScR1. These structures provide pharmacophores for designing highly potent non-peptide class I RR inhibitors.