skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Structure of Plasmodium falciparum orotate phosphoribosyltransferase with autologous inhibitory protein–protein interactions

Abstract

P. falciparum orotate phosphoribosyltransferase, a potential target for antimalarial drugs and a conduit for prodrugs, crystallized as a structure with eight molecules per asymmetric unit that included some unique parasite-specific auto-inhibitory interactions between catalytic dimers. The most severe form of malaria is caused by the obligate parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRTase) is the fifth enzyme in the de novo pyrimidine-synthesis pathway in the parasite, which lacks salvage pathways. Among all of the malaria de novo pyrimidine-biosynthesis enzymes, the structure of P. falciparum OPRTase (PfOPRTase) was the only one unavailable until now. PfOPRTase that could be crystallized was obtained after some low-complexity sequences were removed. Four catalytic dimers were seen in the asymmetic unit (a total of eight polypeptides). In addition to revealing unique amino acids in the PfOPRTase active sites, asymmetric dimers in the larger structure pointed to novel parasite-specific protein–protein interactions that occlude the catalytic active sites. The latter could potentially modulate PfOPRTase activity in parasites and possibly provide new insights for blocking PfOPRTase functions.

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22375720
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Acta crystallographica. Section F, Structural biology communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 71; Journal Issue: Pt 5; Other Information: PMCID: PMC4427171; PMID: 25945715; PUBLISHER-ID: hv5289; PUBLISHER-ID: S2053230X1500549X; OAI: oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4427171; Copyright (c) Kumar et al. 2015; This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are cited.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 2053-230X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; CHANNELING; DIMERS; INTERACTIONS; MOLECULES; POTENTIALS

Citation Formats

Kumar, Shiva, Krishnamoorthy, Kalyanaraman, Mudeppa, Devaraja G., and Rathod, Pradipsinh K., E-mail: rathod@chem.washington.edu. Structure of Plasmodium falciparum orotate phosphoribosyltransferase with autologous inhibitory protein–protein interactions. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1107/S2053230X1500549X.
Kumar, Shiva, Krishnamoorthy, Kalyanaraman, Mudeppa, Devaraja G., & Rathod, Pradipsinh K., E-mail: rathod@chem.washington.edu. Structure of Plasmodium falciparum orotate phosphoribosyltransferase with autologous inhibitory protein–protein interactions. United States. https://doi.org/10.1107/S2053230X1500549X
Kumar, Shiva, Krishnamoorthy, Kalyanaraman, Mudeppa, Devaraja G., and Rathod, Pradipsinh K., E-mail: rathod@chem.washington.edu. 2015. "Structure of Plasmodium falciparum orotate phosphoribosyltransferase with autologous inhibitory protein–protein interactions". United States. https://doi.org/10.1107/S2053230X1500549X.
@article{osti_22375720,
title = {Structure of Plasmodium falciparum orotate phosphoribosyltransferase with autologous inhibitory protein–protein interactions},
author = {Kumar, Shiva and Krishnamoorthy, Kalyanaraman and Mudeppa, Devaraja G. and Rathod, Pradipsinh K., E-mail: rathod@chem.washington.edu},
abstractNote = {P. falciparum orotate phosphoribosyltransferase, a potential target for antimalarial drugs and a conduit for prodrugs, crystallized as a structure with eight molecules per asymmetric unit that included some unique parasite-specific auto-inhibitory interactions between catalytic dimers. The most severe form of malaria is caused by the obligate parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRTase) is the fifth enzyme in the de novo pyrimidine-synthesis pathway in the parasite, which lacks salvage pathways. Among all of the malaria de novo pyrimidine-biosynthesis enzymes, the structure of P. falciparum OPRTase (PfOPRTase) was the only one unavailable until now. PfOPRTase that could be crystallized was obtained after some low-complexity sequences were removed. Four catalytic dimers were seen in the asymmetic unit (a total of eight polypeptides). In addition to revealing unique amino acids in the PfOPRTase active sites, asymmetric dimers in the larger structure pointed to novel parasite-specific protein–protein interactions that occlude the catalytic active sites. The latter could potentially modulate PfOPRTase activity in parasites and possibly provide new insights for blocking PfOPRTase functions.},
doi = {10.1107/S2053230X1500549X},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22375720}, journal = {Acta crystallographica. Section F, Structural biology communications},
issn = {2053-230X},
number = Pt 5,
volume = 71,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}