Crystal structures of ribonuclease A complexes with 5'-diphosphoadenosine 3'-phosphate and 5'-diphosphoadenosine 2'-phosphate at 1.7 angstrom resolution

High-resolution (1.7 Angstrom) crystal structures have been determined for bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A (RNase A) complexed with 5'-diphosphoadenosine 3'-phosphate (ppA-3'-p) and 5'-diphosphoadenosine 2'-phosphate (ppA-2'-p), as well as for a native structure refined to 2.0 Angstrom. These nucleotide phosphates are the two most potent inhibitors of RNase A reported so far, with K-i values of 240 and 520 nM, respectively. The binding modes and conformations of ppA-3'-p and ppA-2'-p were found to differ markedly from those anticipated on the basis of earlier structures of RNase A complexes. The key difference is that the 5'-beta-phosphate rather than the 5'-alpha-phosphate of each inhibitor occupies the P-1 phosphate binding site. As a consequence, the ribose moieties of the two nucleotides are shifted by similar to 2 Angstrom compared to the positions of their counterparts in earlier complexes, and the adenine rings are rotated into unusual syn conformations. Thus, the six-membered and five-membered rings of both adenines are reversed with respect to the others but nonetheless engage in extensive interactions with the residues that form the B-2 purine binding site of RNase A. Despite the close structural similarity of the two inhibitors, the puckers of their furanose rings are different: C2'-endo and C3'-endo, respectively. Moreover, their 5'-alpha-phosphates and 3'(2')-monophosphates interact with largely different sets of RNase residues. The results of this crystallographic study emphasize the difficulties inherent in qualitative modeling of protein-inhibitor interactions and the compelling reasons for high-resolution structural studies in which quantitative design of improved inhibitors was enabled. The structures presented here provide a promising starting point for the rational design of tight-binding RNase inhibitors, which may be used as therapeutic agents in restraining the ribonucleolytic activities of RNase homologues such as angiogenin, eosinophil-derived neurotoxin, and eosinophil cationic protein.