3-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE BINUCLEAR METAL CENTER OF PHOSPHOTRIESTERASE

Phosphotriesterase, as isolated from Pseudomonas diminuta, is capable of detoxifying widely used pesticides such as paraoxon and parathion and various mammalian acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. The enzyme requires a binuclear metal center for activity. Recently, the three-dimensional structure of the apoenzyme was solved (Benning et al., 1994) and shown to consist of an alpha/beta-barrel. Here we describe the three-dimensional structure of the holoenzyme, reconstituted with cadmium, as determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis to 2.0-Angstrom resolution. Crystals employed in the investigation belonged to the space group C2 with unit cell dimensions of a = 129.5 Angstrom, b = 91.4 Angstrom, c = 69.4 Angstrom, beta = 91.9 degrees, and two subunits in the asymmetric unit. There are significant differences in the three-dimensional architecture of the apo and hole forms of the enzyme such that their cr-carbon positions superimpose with a root-mean-square deviation of 3.4 Angstrom. The binuclear metal center is located at the C-terminus of the beta-barrel with the cadmiums separated by 3.8 Angstrom. There are two bridging ligands to the metals: a water molecule (or possibly a hydroxide ion) and a carbamylated lysine residue (Lys 169). The more buried cadmium is surrounded by His 55, His 57, Lys 169, Asp 301, and the bridging water in a trigonal bipyramidal arrangement. The second metal is coordinated in a distorted octahedral geometry by His 201, His 230, Lys 169, the bridging water molecule, and two additional solvents.