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Structure of and kinetic channelling in bifunctional dihydrofolate reductase–thymidylate synthase

Nature Structural Biology volume 1, pages 186–194 (1994)Cite this article

Abstract

The bifunctional enzyme dihydrofolate reductase–thymidylate synthase catalyses both the reductive methylation of 2′–deoxyuridylate and the subsequent reduction of dihydrofolate to yield 2′–deoxythymidylate and tetrahydrofolate at two spacially discrete sites situated on different protein domains. The X–ray structure of dihydrofolate reductase–thymidylate synthase from Leishmania major indicates that transfer of dihydrofolate between these sites does not occur by transient binding at both sites but rather by movement of dihydrofolate across the surface of the protein. The enzyme has an unusual surface charge distribution that could account for this channelling of dihydrofolate between active sites.

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Author notes

  1. Katherine M. Welsh

    Present address: The Scripps Research Institute, 10666N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California, 92037, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 3565 General Atomics Court, San Diego, California, 92121-1122, USA

    Daniel R. Knighton, Chen-Chen Kan, Eleanor Howland, Cheryl A. Janson, Zuzana Hostomska & David A. Matthews

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Knighton, D., Kan, CC., Howland, E. et al. Structure of and kinetic channelling in bifunctional dihydrofolate reductase–thymidylate synthase. Nat Struct Mol Biol 1, 186–194 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsb0394-186

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