Crystal structure of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa MurG: UDP-GlcNAc substrate complex

Protein Pept Lett. 2013 Sep;20(9):1002-8. doi: 10.2174/0929866511320090006.

Abstract

MurG is an essential bacterial glycosyltransferase enzyme in Pseudomonas aeruginosa performing one of the key membrane steps of peptidoglycan synthesis catalyzing the transfer of N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc) from its donor substrate, UDP-GlcNAc, to the acceptor substrate Lipid I. We have solved the crystal structure of the complex between Pseudomonas aeruginosa MurG and UDP-GlcNAc and compared it with the previously solved complex from E. coli. The structure reveals a large-scale conformational change in the relative orientations of the N- and C-terminal domains, which has the effect of widening the cofactor binding site and displacing the UDP-GlcNAc donor. These results suggest new opportunities to design potent inhibitors of peptidoglycan biosynthesis.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / metabolism
  • Crystallization
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Fluorometry
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / chemistry*
  • N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / metabolism
  • Peptidoglycan / chemistry
  • Peptidoglycan / metabolism
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / enzymology
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylglucosamine / chemistry*
  • Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylglucosamine / metabolism

Substances

  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
  • Peptidoglycan
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylglucosamine
  • N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases
  • UDP-N-acetylglucosamine-N-acetylmuramyl-(pentapeptide)pyrophosphoryl-undecaprenol N-acetylglucosamine transferase