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Aminoglycoside-3'-phosphotransferase (APH(3')), also known as aminoglycoside kinase, is an
enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...
that primarily
catalyzes Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...
the addition of
phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...
from ATP to the 3'-hydroxyl group of a 4,6-disubstituted
aminoglycoside Aminoglycoside is a medicinal and bacteriologic category of traditional Gram-negative antibacterial medications that inhibit protein synthesis and contain as a portion of the molecule an amino-modified glycoside (sugar). The term can also refer ...
, such as
kanamycin Kanamycin A, often referred to simply as kanamycin, is an antibiotic used to treat severe bacterial infections and tuberculosis. It is not a first line treatment. It is used by mouth, injection into a vein, or injection into a muscle. Kanamy ...
. However, APH(3') has also been found to phosphorylate at the 5'-hydroxyl group in 4,5-disubstituted aminoglycosides, which lack a 3'-hydroxyl group, and to diphosphorylate hydroxyl groups in aminoglycosides that have both 3'- and 5'-hydroxyl groups. Primarily positively charged at biological conditions, aminoglycosides bind to the negatively charged backbone of
nucleic acids Nucleic acids are large biomolecules that are crucial in all cells and viruses. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomer components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main classes of nucleic a ...
to disrupt
protein synthesis Protein biosynthesis, or protein synthesis, is a core biological process, occurring inside cells, balancing the loss of cellular proteins (via degradation or export) through the production of new proteins. Proteins perform a number of critica ...
, effectively inhibiting bacterial cell growth. APH(3') mediated phosphorylation of aminoglycosides effectively disrupts their mechanism of action, introducing a phosphate group that reduces their
binding affinity In biochemistry and pharmacology, a ligand is a substance that forms a complex with a biomolecule to serve a biological purpose. The etymology stems from Latin ''ligare'', which means 'to bind'. In protein-ligand binding, the ligand is usuall ...
due to steric hindrances and unfavorable electrostatic interactions. APH(3') is primarily found in certain species of
gram-positive bacteria In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. The Gram stain ...
. This enzyme belongs to the family of
transferase In biochemistry, a transferase is any one of a class of enzymes that catalyse the transfer of specific functional groups (e.g. a methyl or glycosyl group) from one molecule (called the donor) to another (called the acceptor). They are involved ...
s, specifically those transferring phosphorus-containing groups (
phosphotransferase In molecular biology, phosphotransferases are proteins in the transferase family of enzymes ( EC number 2.7) that catalyze certain chemical reactions. The general form of the phosphorylation reactions they catalyze is: \ce Where P is a phosphat ...
s) with an alcohol group as acceptor. The
systematic name A systematic name is a name given in a systematic way to one unique group, organism, object or chemical substance, out of a specific population or collection. Systematic names are usually part of a nomenclature. A semisystematic name or semitrivi ...
of this enzyme class is ATP:kanamycin 3'-O-phosphotransferase. This enzyme is also called neomycin-kanamycin phosphotransferase.


Structure

APH(3') thermodynamically favors a
dimer Dimer may refer to: * Dimer (chemistry), a chemical structure formed from two similar sub-units ** Protein dimer, a protein quaternary structure ** d-dimer ** TH-dimer * Dimer model, an item in statistical mechanics, based on ''domino tiling'' * ...
form of two identical APH(3') monomers that are connected by two
disulfide bonds In chemistry, a disulfide (or disulphide in British English) is a compound containing a functional group or the anion. The linkage is also called an SS-bond or sometimes a disulfide bridge and usually derived from two thiol groups. In in ...
between Cys19 and Cys156, with the
active site In biology and biochemistry, the active site is the region of an enzyme where substrate molecules bind and undergo a chemical reaction. The active site consists of amino acid residues that form temporary bonds with the substrate, the ''binding s ...
s facing each other. However, the large distance between the two monomers' active sites suggests that they are independent of each other, and do not operate in a cooperative fashion. Additionally, dimerization of APH(3') does not affect the activity of the enzyme. Each monomer consists of two lobes, the
beta-sheet The beta sheet (β-sheet, also β-pleated sheet) is a common structural motif, motif of the regular protein secondary structure. Beta sheets consist of beta strands (β-strands) connected laterally by at least two or three backbone chain, backbon ...
rich
N-terminus The N-terminus (also known as the amino-terminus, NH2-terminus, N-terminal end or amine-terminus) is the start of a protein or polypeptide, referring to the free amine group (-NH2) located at the end of a polypeptide. Within a peptide, the amin ...
and
alpha-helix An alpha helix (or α-helix) is a sequence of amino acids in a protein that are twisted into a coil (a helix). The alpha helix is the most common structural arrangement in the secondary structure of proteins. It is also the most extreme type of ...
rich
C-terminus The C-terminus (also known as the carboxyl-terminus, carboxy-terminus, C-terminal tail, carboxy tail, C-terminal end, or COOH-terminus) is the end of an amino acid chain (protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comp ...
, with a twelve
amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. Only these 22 a ...
region connecting the two. The N-terminal lobe is composed of 5 antiparallel ß-sheets, with an α-helix between sheets 3 and 4. The C-terminal lobe is divided into a central core region (two α-helices and a hairpin-loop followed by four ß-sheets), an insert region (two α-helices connected by a loop structure), and a C-terminal region (two α-helices). The resulting pocket that is encapsulated by the two lobes make up the enzyme active site. This pocket is largely composed of negatively charged amino acid residues, which stabilize the positive charge of and orient the substrate in the active site. Additionally, this pocket is thought to contribute to the promiscuity of the enzyme, allowing it to take in and stabilize several different kinds of aminoglycosides.


Mechanism

While earlier studies of APH(3') supported a mechanism involving the nucleophilic attack of γ-phosphate by the 3'-hydroxyl, more recent studies suggest that APH(3') catalyzes the transfer of the γ-phosphate from ATP to an aminoglycoside through a dissociative mechanism, where deprotonation of the substrate is not critical to phosphate transfer, but instead the stabilization of a
metaphosphate A metaphosphate ion is an oxyanion that has the empirical formula . It was first postulated in 1955 but was not observed until 1979, when it was detected by mass spectrometry. Metaphosphate is an intermediate in the hydrolysis of phosphate esters ...
transition state. Additionally, APH(3') has a nucleotide positioning loop (NPL) that closes down on the enzyme active site after binding ATP, facilitating the phosphorylation of the 3'-hydroxyl group. Key to correctly positioning the phosphate group are Ser27 and Met26 residues. Initially, two
magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...
ions stabilized by Asn195 and Asp208 facilitate the binding of ATP in the active site and orient the ß- and γ-phosphate groups. The NPL then undergoes a conformational change to form a hydrogen bond between Ser27 and the ß-phosphate group. Upon binding of substrate, APH(3') undergoes another conformational change to orient Ser27 such that its amide backbone disrupts the alignment of ß-phosphate and γ-phosphate, weakening the γ-phosphate bond. The amide backbone of Met26 forms a hydrogen bond with the metaphosphate to stabilize the transition state, as a magnesium ion (designated Mg1) then lengthens the γ-phosphate bond, breaking it and effectively phosphorylating the hydroxyl group. image:APHReactionMechanism.png, center, upright=4.0, Reaction mechanism of APH(3'). Magnesium ions coordinate ATP into place, and the addition of the substrate induces a conformational change that engages the amide backbone of Ser27 in hydrogen bonding with the ß-phosphate, disrupting the γ-PO bond and facilitating the phosphorylation of a 4,6-disubstituted aminoglycoside.


Evolution and biological function

The central core region of APH(3') has a high degree of protein conformation, conformational similarity to regions of serine/tyrosine and threonine
protein kinases A protein kinase is a kinase which selectively modifies other proteins by covalently adding phosphates to them (phosphorylation) as opposed to kinases which modify lipids, carbohydrates, or other molecules. Phosphorylation usually results in a fun ...
, functionally equivalent enzymes found in eukaryotes. Additionally,
X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science of determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to Diffraction, diffract in specific directions. By measuring th ...
and
mutagenesis Mutagenesis () is a process by which the genetic information of an organism is changed by the production of a mutation. It may occur spontaneously in nature, or as a result of exposure to mutagens. It can also be achieved experimentally using lab ...
of key active site residues supports claims that APH(3') and eukaryotic protein kinases are related, despite sharing less than 10% of total residue content. Several studies have suggested that serine/tyrosine/threonine protein kinases, once thought to only occur in eukaryotes, are also found in the prokaryotes. Additionally, it has been found that aminoglycoside biosynthesis requires phosphorylation of hydroxyl groups during certain steps of synthesis. Thus, it has been speculated that APH(3') and other protein kinases originate from enzymes from the metabolic pathway for aminoglycosides, and developed in order to counteract the toxic effects of these antibiotics in the host bacterial cell.


Use in research

Aminoglycoside resistance genes are commonly used in the realm of
genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...
in order to select for correctly transformed bacterial organisms. When constructing a vector plasmid, including
antibiotic resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resis ...
in the vector is crucial to effectively expressing the gene of interest. Antibiotics, such as the aminoglycosides
kanamycin Kanamycin A, often referred to simply as kanamycin, is an antibiotic used to treat severe bacterial infections and tuberculosis. It is not a first line treatment. It is used by mouth, injection into a vein, or injection into a muscle. Kanamy ...
or
neomycin Neomycin, also known as framycetin, is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that displays bactericidal activity against Gram-negative aerobic bacilli and some anaerobic bacilli where resistance has not yet arisen. It is generally not effective against ...
, are added to the cultures during growth phases in order to selectively destroy the cells that did not effectively take up the plasmid.


References


Further reading

* * {{Portal bar, Biology, border=no EC 2.7.1 Enzymes of known structure