The crystal structure of Escherichia coli ornithine transcarbamoylase (OTCase, EC 2.1.3.3) complexed with the bisubstrate analog N-(phosphonacetyl)-L-ornithine (PALO) has been determined at 2.8-Å resolution. This research on the structure of a transcarbamoylase catalytic trimer with a substrate analog bound provides new insights into the linkages between substrate binding, protein-protein interactions, and conformational change. Anabolic ornithine transcarbamoylase (OTCase) catalyzes the first reaction in the urea cycle, in which L-ornithine is carbamoylated to form citrulline. More than 100 human mutations in OTCase that cause hyperammonemia and subsequent neurological damage or even death have been identified (1-5). Despite extensive modeling (3, 6), functional, and mutagenic studies (7,8), interpretation of the clinical results has been hampered by the unavailability of an appropriate enzyme͞ substrate analog structure.Escherichia coli anabolic OTCase (EC 2.1.3.3) shares Ϸ49% sequence similarity with its human counterpart and has a similar enzymatic mechanism (9-12). It is also homologous to the catalytic subunit of three transcarbamoylases whose crystal structures have been solved (13)(14)(15) (13), whereas E. coli ATCase has pseudo 32 symmetry with two catalytic trimers linked by three regulatory dimers (15). In contrast to B. subtilis ATCase, E. coli ATCase catalytic trimer and E. coli OTCase, which are not cooperative, the more highly aggregated transcarbamoylases are allosterically regulated (ref. 24; reviewed in refs. 25-28).The allosteric properties of E. coli ATCase have been studied most thoroughly and serve as a model for understanding other allosteric enzymes. Upon substrate binding, E. coli ATCase undergoes a large conformational change, in which the molecule expands Ϸ12 Å along its three-fold axis, each catalytic trimer and regulatory dimer rotate about the corresponding symmetry axes, the domains of the catalytic chains close about the substrate, and several interchain interfaces are restructured (20,(29)(30)(31)(32)(33). Because these changes are concerted and each chain is involved in several protein-protein interactions (33-36), short-and long-range effects are difficult to distinguish. Although the subunits have been studied extensively in solution (16,20,(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51), crystal structures of an isolated catalytic trimer of E. coli ATCase in the presence and absence of substrate analogs that would allow conformational changes restricted to the catalytic trimer to be identified have not previously been available.We report here the crystal structure of E. coli OTCase complexed with its bisubstrate analog N-(phosphonacetyl)-Lornithine (PALO) determined at 2.8-Å resolution. Active site residues that interact with the bound inhibitor are identified and the conformational change that accompanies substrate binding is described. The functional roles of specific residues are correlated with the kinetic and clinical properties of OTCase mutants and...