The first step in the common pathway for the biosynthesis of branched-chain amino acids is catalysed by acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS; EC 4.1.3.18). The enzyme is found in plants, fungi and bacteria, and is regulated by controls on transcription and translation, and by allosteric modulation of catalytic activity. It has long been known that the bacterial enzyme is composed of two types of sub...

Gossypol, a polyphenolic binaphthalene -dialdehyde reputed to exert contraceptive action in males, reversibly inhibits adenylate cyclase [ATP pyrophosphate lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.1] in a concentration-dependent manner. In membranes prepared from a variety of organs, the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) ranges from 75 microM (rat Leydig tumor cells) to 250 microM (rat liver memb...

Although the catalytic (C) subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase is N-myristylated, it is a soluble protein, and no physiological role has been identified for its myristyl moiety. To determine whether the interaction of the two regulatory (R) subunit isoforms (R(I) and R(II)) with the N-myristylated C subunit affects its ability to target membranes, the effect of N-myristylation and the R(I)...

CK2 is a pleiotropic constitutively active serine/threonine protein kinase composed of two catalytic alpha- and two regulatory beta-subunits, whose regulation is still not well understood. It seems to play an essential role in regulation of many cellular processes. Four active forms of CK2, composed of alphaalpha'betabeta', alpha(2)betabeta', alpha'(2)betabeta', and a free alpha'-subunit were i...

Crystals of the catalytic subunit of Methanococcus jannaschii aspartate transcarbamoylase in an orthorhombic crystal form contain four crystallographically independent trimers which associate in pairs to form stable staggered complexes that are similar to each other and to a previously determined monoclinic C2 form. Each subunit has a sulfate in the central channel. The catalytic subunits in th...

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) regulates a broad spectrum of cellular processes. This enzyme is a collection of varied heterotrimeric complexes, each composed of a catalytic (C) and regulatory (B) subunit bound together by a structural (A) subunit. To understand the cell cycle dynamics of this enzyme population, we carried out quantitative and qualitative analyses of the PP2A subunits of Sacchar...

The unusual NH2-terminal blocking group of the catalytic subunit of bovine cardiac muscle cyclic AMP-dependent protein was found to be amide-linked n-tetradecanoic acid by gas chromatographic-, direct chemical ionization-, and fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry. In addition, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry revealed the presence of an additional alanine which had been overlooked whe...

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a master metabolic regulator, and is an important target for drug development against diabetes, obesity, and other diseases. AMPK is a hetero-trimeric enzyme, with a catalytic (alpha) subunit, and two regulatory (beta and gamma) subunits. Here we report the crystal structure at 2.2A resolution of the protein kinase domain (KD) of the catalytic subunit of y...