The EMBO Journal
 
Advanced search
Journal home
Current issue
Advance Online Publication
Web Focuses
Archive
Browse by subject
Free online sample issue
Aims and scope
Press releases
ToC by email
Authors & Referees
Guide for authors
Submit an Article
Guide for referees
Editorial Team, Senior Advisors and Advisory Editorial Board
Contact Editorial office
Customer services
Subscribe
Order sample copy
Purchase articles
Reprints and permissions
Contact NPG
Advertising
EMBO
www.embo.org
Article
Subject Categories: Signal Transduction | Structural Biology
The EMBO Journal (2005) 24, 4247–4259, doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7600886
Published online 1 December 2005
Structure of the entire cytoplasmic portion of a sensor histidine-kinase protein
Alberto Marina1, 2, Carey D Waldburger3, 4 and Wayne A Hendrickson1
1 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
2 Macromolecular Crystallography Unit, Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (CSIC), Valencia, Spain
3 Department of Microbiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

To whom correspondence should be addressed
Wayne A Hendrickson, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. Tel.: +1 212 305 3456; Fax: +1 212 305 7379; E-mail: wayne@convex.hhmi.columbia.edu

4 Present address: Department of Biology, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ 07474, USA

Received 6 May 2005; Accepted 3 November 2005; Published online 1 December 2005.
Abstract
The large majority of histidine kinases (HKs) are multifunctional enzymes having autokinase, phosphotransfer and phosphatase activities, and most of these are transmembrane sensor proteins. Sensor HKs possess conserved cytoplasmic phosphorylation and ATP-binding kinase domains. The different enzymatic activities require participation by one or both of these domains, implying the need for different conformational states. The catalytic domains are linked to the membrane through a coiled-coil segment that sometimes includes other domains. We describe here the first crystal structure of the complete cytoplasmic region of a sensor HK, one from the thermophile Thermotoga maritima in complex with ADPbetaN at 1.9 Å resolution. The structure reveals previously unidentified functions for several conserved residues and reveals the relative disposition of domains in a state seemingly poised for phosphotransfer. The structure thereby inspires hypotheses for the mechanisms of autophosphorylation, phosphotransfer and response-regulator dephosphorylation, and for signal transduction through the coiled-coil segment. Mutational tests support the functional relevance of interdomain contacts.
Keywords: crystal structure, PhoQ, phosphotransfer, selenomethionyl MAD, two-component systems
Top

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

Send to a friendEmail link to a friend
PDFDownload PDF
Full textFull text
Next article
Previous article
Table of contents
rights and permissionsRights and permissions
order commercial reprintsReprints
ToC alertRegister for table of contents by email
  Privacy policy Copyright © 2005 by the European Molecular Biology Organization