Download MendeleyThe structure of bacteriophage T7 lysozyme, a zinc amidase and an inhibitor of T7 RNA polymerase.
Cheng, X., Zhang, X., Pflugrath, J.W., Studier, F.W.(1994) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 91: 4034-4038
- PubMed: 8171031
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.91.9.4034
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
1LBA - PubMed Abstract:
The lysozyme of bacteriophage T7 is a bifunctional protein that cuts amide bonds in the bacterial cell wall and binds to and inhibits transcription by T7 RNA polymerase. The structure of a mutant T7 lysozyme has been determined by x-ray crystallography and refined at 2.2-A resolution. The protein folds into an alpha/beta-sheet structure that has a prominent cleft. A zinc atom is located in the cleft, bound directly to three amino acids and, through a water molecule, to a fourth. Zinc is required for amidase activity but not for inhibition of T7 RNA polymerase. Alignment of the zinc ligands of T7 lysozyme with those of carboxypeptidase A and thermolysin suggests structural similarity among the catalytic sites for the amidase and these zinc proteases. Mutational analysis identified presumed catalytic residues for amidase activity within the cleft and a surface that appears to be the site of binding to T7 RNA polymerase. Binding of T7 RNA polymerase inhibits amidase activity.
Organizational Affiliation:
W. M. Keck Structural Biology Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY 11724.
