Bisphosphonate Inhibitors of Mammalian Glycolytic Aldolase.

The glycolytic enzyme aldolase is an emerging drug target in diseases such as cancer and protozoan infections which are dependent on a hyperglycolytic phenotype to synthesize adenosine 5'-triphosphate and metabolic precursors for biomass production. To date, structural information for the enzyme in complex with phosphate-derived inhibitors has been lacking. Thus, we determined the crystal structure of mammalian aldolase in complex with naphthalene 2,6-bisphosphate (1) that served as a template for the design of bisphosphonate-based inhibitors, namely, 2-phosphate-naphthalene 6-bisphosphonate (2), 2-naphthol 6-bisphosphonate (3), and 1-phosphate-benzene 4-bisphosphonate (4).

Isomer activation controls stereospecificity of class I fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolases.

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) aldolase, a glycolytic enzyme, catalyzes the reversible and stereospecific aldol addition of dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and d-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (d-G3P) by an unresolved mechanism. To afford insight into the molecular determinants of FBP aldolase stereospecificity during aldol addition, a key ternary complex formed by DHAP and d-G3P, comprising 2% of the equilibrium population at physiological pH, was cryotrapped in the active site of aldolase crystals to high resolution. The growth of aldolase crystals in acidic conditions enabled trapping of the ternary complex as a dominant population.