2'-Deoxyuridine 5'-monophosphate substrate displacement in thymidylate synthase through 6-hydroxy-2H-naphtho[1,8-bc]furan-2-one derivatives.

Thymidylate synthase (TS) is a target for antifolate-based chemotherapies of microbial and human diseases. Here, ligand-based, synthetic, and X-ray crystallography studies led to the discovery of 6-(3-cyanobenzoyloxy)-2-oxo-2H-naphto[1,8-bc]furan, a novel inhibitor with a Ki of 310 nM against Pneumocystis carinii TS. The X-ray ternary complex with Escherichia coli TS revealed, for the first time, displacement of the substrate toward the dimeric protein interface, thus providing new opportunities for further design of specific inhibitors of microbial pathogens.

Identification of the binding modes of N-phenylphthalimides inhibiting bacterial thymidylate synthase through X-ray crystallography screening.

To identify specific bacterial thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitors, we exploited phenolphthalein (PTH), which inhibits both bacterial and human enzymes. The X-ray crystal structure of Lactobacillus casei TS (LcTS) that binds PTH showed multiple binding modes of the inhibitor, which prevented a classical structure-based drug design approach. To overcome this issue, we synthesized two phthalimidic libraries that were tested against TS enzymes and then we performed X-ray crystallographic screening of the active compounds.

Structural insights into the catalytic mechanism of the bacterial class B phosphatase AphA belonging to the DDDD superfamily of phosphohydrolases.

AphA is a magnesium-dependent, bacterial class B acid phosphatase that catalyzes the hydrolysis of a variety of phosphoester substrates and belongs to the DDDD superfamily of phosphohydrolases. The recently reported crystal structure of AphA from Escherichia coli has revealed the quaternary structure of the enzyme together with hints about its catalytic mechanism. The present work reports the crystal structures of AphA from E.

Biochemical characterization of the class B acid phosphatase (AphA) of Escherichia coli MG1655.

The AphA enzyme of Escherichia coli, a molecular class B periplasmic phosphatase that belongs to the DDDD superfamily of phosphohydrolases, was purified and subjected to biochemical characterization. Kinetic analysis with several substrates revealed that the enzyme essentially behaves as a broad-spectrum nucleotidase highly active on 3'- and 5'-mononucleotides and monodeoxynucleotides, but not active on cyclic nucleotides, or nucleotides di- and triphosphate. Mononucleotides are degraded to nucleosides, and AphA apparently does not exhibit any nucleotide phosphomutase activity.

Molecular basis for the binding of competitive inhibitors of maize polyamine oxidase.

Maize polyamine oxidase (MPAO), the only member of the polyamine oxidase (PAO) family whose three-dimensional structure is known, is characterized by a 30 A long U-shaped catalytic tunnel located between the substrate binding domain and the FAD. To shed light on the MPAO ligand binding mode, we studied the inhibition properties of linear diamines, agmatine, prenylagmatine (G3), G3 analogues, and guazatine, and analyzed the structural determinants of their biological activity. Linear diamines competitively inhibited MPAO, with the inhibitory activity increasing as a function of the number of methylene groups.