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AND
STEPHEN G. WITHERS'v2
Abstract
The structure of human pancreatic a-amylase has been determined to 1.8 A resolution using X-ray diffraction
techniques. This enzymeis found tobe composed of three structural domains. Thelargest is Domain A (residues
1-99, 169-404), which forms a central eight-stranded parallel @-barrel, to one end
of which are located the active
site residues Asp 197, Glu 233, and Asp 300. Also foundin this vicinity is a bound chloride ion that forms ligand
interactions to Arg 195, Asn 298, and Arg 337. Domain B is the smallest (residues 100-168) and serves to form
a calcium binding site against the wall of the @-barrel of Domain A. Protein groups making ligand interactions
to this calcium include Asn
100, Arg 158, Asp 167, and His 201. Domain C (residues 405-496) is made up of antiparallel @-structure and
is only loosely associated with Domains A and B. It is notable that the N-terminal glutaa stable
mine residue of human pancreatic a-amylase undergoes a posttranslational modification to form
pyrrolidone derivative that may provide protection against other
digestive enzymes. Structure-based comparisons
of human pancreatic a-amylase with functionally related enzymes serveto emphasize three points.Firstly, despite
this approach facilitating primary sequence alignments with respect to the numerous insertions and deletions present,
Secondly, in conoverall thereis only - 15% sequence homology between the mammalian and fungal a-amylases.
trast, these same studies indicate that significant structural homology is present and of the orderof -70%. Thirdly,
the positioning of Domain C can vary considerably between a-amylases. In terms of the more closely related porcine enzyme, there are fourregions of polypeptide chain (residues 237-250, 304-310, 346-354, and 458-461) with
significantly different conformations from thosein human pancreatic a-amylase. Atleast two of these could play
a role in observed differential substrate andcleavage pattern specificities between these enzymes. Similarly, amino
acid differences between human pancreatic and salivary a-amylases have been localized and a number of these
occur in the vicinity of the active site.
1730
1731
Domain B
Domain A
Fig. 1. Stereo drawing of a schematic representation of the polypeptide chain fold of human pancreatic a-amylase. Also indicated are the relative positionings of the three structural domains present in this protein (Domain A, residues 1-99, 169-404;
Domain B, residues 100-168; Domain C, residues 405-496). along with locations of the calcium and chloride binding sites.
N- and C-terminal ends of the polypeptide chain have also been labeled N and C, respectively. A central feature of this structure is the eight-stranded parallel &barrel that forms the bulk of Domain A and is believed to contain the active site region.
1732
75
70
65
.*
.. .
40
35
I
:
c330
&
25
15
20
ia
10
5
0
0
50
100
150
200
250
350
300
400
450
496
Residue Number
Fig. 3. Stereo diagram of an omit difference electron density mapin the region of
the N-terminal end of the polypeptide chain
of human pancreatic a-amylase. This map
of the
was computed with the omission
whole of Gln 1 and Tyr 2, and the contoured envelope is shown at the 4a level.
Overlaid in dark lines are the final refined
positions of Gln 1 and Tyr 2. As can be seen
from these results,in human a-amylase the
side chain of Gln 1 is covalently bonded
back to what would normally be the free
terminal amino group of this residue
to
form a stable pyrrolidone derivative.
1733
which human a-amylasemust function. It is notable that all primary sequences of mammalian a-amylases appear to have an
N-terminal glutamine residue (Toda, 1988).
Earlyinourstructuralanalysesofhumanpancreatic
a-amylase, and before it was recognized that Gln 1 formed a
Porcine
Human
Atom
pyrrolidone derivative, attempts were made to fit this residue
into electron density maps asa normal glutamine. This led to
unsatisfactory stereochemistry and abnormallyhigh thermal factors for theside-chain atoms of this residue. It is of interest that
in both structure determinations of porcine a-amylase (Qian
et al., 1993; Larson et al., 1994) Gln 1 was refined as a normal
amino acid. In both cases considerable disorder, coupled with
high thermal factors, were noted for Gln I and Tyr 2. These
results and our observationswith human pancreatic a-amylase
(Fig. 3) suggest the porcine enzyme, like its human counterpart,
also has a cyclic pyrrolidone end and that each these
of porcine
structures should be reexamined to see if this feature would better fit the observed electron density.The results of anearlier primary sequence analysis have also suggested that Gln I in porcine
a-amylase is a pyrrolidone derivative (Kluh, 1981).
With few exceptions, the observed electron density over the
course of the polypeptide chain of human a-amylase
was comparable to that shown forGln 1 and Tyr2 in Figure 3. The only
extended region having weak electron density for main-chain
atoms consisted ofresidues 304-309, which are part of a flexible surface loop. As Figure2 shows, these residues have correspondingly high thermal parameters, the average ofwhich for
for all
main-chain atoms is 51.7 A*, as compared to 20.0
main-chain atoms. In particular, no significant electron density
was observed for Gly 306. This region of polypeptide chain is
near theactive site residueAsp 300 and may play a rolein binding to substrates(Qian et al., 1994). Two othersegments of polypeptide chain (residues 236-244 and 346-353) exhibit elevated
thermal factorvalues. Both of these are partof extended loops,
with one being adjacent to anotheractive site residue(Glu 233).
The positions ofa number of side chainsbelonging to solventexposed amino acids were also not clearly defined. Residues
having only weak electron density beyond CB include Gln 8,
Asn 105, Trp 134, Gln 234, Asn 350, Asn 459, and Asp 471.
Those poorly resolved beyond CG were lysines 142, 208, 243,
278, 322, and Arg 343.
Two other notable features of human pancreatic a-amylase
are its ability to bind a chloride and calcium ion. As Figure 1
shows, the chloride ionis bound in the direct vicinity of the active site and may serve as an allosteric activator of catalysis
(Levitzki & Steer, 1974; Lifshitz & Levitzki, 1976). Chloride ion
coordination involves the side chains of Arg195, Asn 298, and
Arg 337, along with a water molecule. These interactions areillustrated in Figure 4A and Kinemage 4, with the corresponding
distances involved detailed in Table 1. Two of the chloride ion
ligands observed (Arg 195 and Asn 298) are adjacent to active
site residues (Asp 197 and Asp 300). This chloride ion is well
resolved in electron density maps and has a thermal factor of
31.0 A'.
The overall positioning of the bound calcium ionin human
pancreatic a-amylase is shown in Figure 1 and its immediate environment is illustrated in Figure 4B and Kinemage 3. A total
of eight ligand interactions are made from main-chain, sidechain, and water molecules to this calcium ion and thedistances
involved arelisted in Table 2. This calcium ionis tightly bound
(Vallee et al., 1959) and refines toa thermal factor of 20.8 A'.
A
'
3.21 NE
NH2
ND2
3.39 NH 1
NH2
0
3.47
3.32
3.25
3.35
3.16
3.32
3.37
3.26
3.06
3.21
Niger
OD1
0
OD1
OD2
0
0
0
0
2.31
2.51
2.58
2.41
2.46
2.49
2.65
2.31
2.32
2.61
2.64
2.28
2.44
2.49
2.62
2.63
2.55
2.66
2.14
2.63
2.36
2.43
2.61
2.56
2.63
2.81
2.61
2.40
2.50
2.58
2.60
a Residue numbering is according to the sequence alignmentof Figof human @-amylase indiure 5 , with amino acids differing from those
cated in brackets.
1734
cg5
Fig. 4. Stereo drawings showing the coordination sphere of the (A) chloride ion bound to
human (thick lines) and porcine (thin lines)
pancreatic a-amylases, as well as (B) the calcium ion bound to these enzymes and(C) the
comparable calcium site found
for the fungal Taka (thick lines) and
Niger (thin lines)
a-amylases. Coordination interactions are indicated with dashed lines and the distances involved are presentedin Tables 1 and 2. Bound
water molecules have also been drawn and labeled Wat. Amino acid numbering
is accord5.
ing to the alignment presented in Figure
(Continues on facing page.)
1735
C
\,H/E
201
Fig. 4. Continued
IO
....................
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.......................
4 300
?!I0
320
310
A
JO
60
50
40
DIALECERYLAPKGFGGV.QVSPPNENVA1YNPFRPWWERYQPVSY
DIALECERYLAlKGFGC\OVSPPNENVAIHNPFRPWWERYOPVSV
Human
ao
70
90
Salwary
Pomne
110
100
~KLCTRSGNEDEFRNMVTRCNNVGVRI
-KLCTRSGNEDEFRNMVTRCNNVCVRl
~KLCTRSGNE~EFR~MVTRCNNVGVRI
Taka
..........
Taka
N I P
Nnger
......
IS0
190
- -1LLDLALEKDYVRSK IAEYMNI-IHLIDICVAGFI
170
IQVRDCRLJTm-
Human
Sallvary
Porclne
Taka
Ntger
240
~
H~~~~
Porcme
Taka
~i~~~
4 e
zoo*
210
220
230
R L D A S K H M W P C D I KAILDKLHNLNSNWFPAGSKPFIYQEVIDLGG
V Q ~ D FF P G Y N K A S G ~ - - - - - -
Salrvary
~~
.......
* 160
Human
YEENGKDVNDWVGPPNDNGV~KEVTI
il
Nlgei
Human
iu
370
360
M L A H P Y C F T R V M S S Y R W P R Q F N N D V N D W V C P P N N VlKEVTl
MLAHPYCFTRVMSSYRWP
M L330
A H P V G F T0
R V M:I40
S S Y R W A N F V[ N3 Gb E D V N D W I G P P N N N G V I K E V T I
11-LNDCIPIIYAGQEQRYA C - N D P A N R E A T W L - - - - - - - - - - IF.l,SDCIPI~YAGEEQHYAGG.KVPYNREATWL.........
260
.-
- - vY
L 2 k
280
Human
Sallvary
E P I K S S D Y F C - N O R V T E F K Y G A K L GV I R - W N G E K M S Y L K N W G E
GPIKSSDYFG-NGRVTEFKYGAKLGTVIRK-WNGEKMSYLKNWGE
EAIKSGEVFS-NGKVTEFKYGAKLGTVVRREKMSYLKNWGE
- P A Y T C P Q N V M D G V L N Y P I Y Y P L L N A F K S T S G M D D LN M I N T V
P A S D C P Y Q K ~ I . ~ I ~ ~ V L ~ Y P I Y ~ Q L L Y AN FM EI K~ S~ V~ G ~ I ~ N L
Y D N G S N Q V A F G R G - - N R G F I V E N N D -- . D W F S L T L - Q T G L P -Y D N ( ; S N Q V A E G R G - ~ N R G F I V F N N D .- - D W T F S L T L - Q T G L P -W D N G S N Q V A F G R G - - - N R G F I V F N N D -- - D W Q L S L - Q T G L P - Y K D - D T T I A M R K CD C s Q l V T l LN K C A S
D Y L
S A GA G
Y T D - O T I A M 420
A K G S G S Q V I T O L4 S
r uN, K G S S G S S Y T L T L S G S G T S G
~
450
46U
470
480
490
ACTYCDVlSGDKlNGNCTGlKlYVSDDGKAHFSISNSAEDPF1A1
AGTYCDVISGDK~NGNCTGIK~YVSDDGKAHFSISNSAEDPEIAI
AQFS I SNSAEDPElAl
VQVPMAGG - - - LPRVL
. . . . . . .
IPVPMASG---LPRVL
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
..............
Fig. 5. Sequence comparison of human pancreatic and salivary, porcine, Taka, and Niger a-amylases. Sequences of human
pancreatic (Nakarnura et al., 1984; Wise et al., 1984; Nishide et al., 1986) and salivary (Nakamura et al., 1984; Nishide et al.,
1986). porcine (Pasero et al., 1986; Qian et al., 1993), Taka (Toda et al., 1982), and Niger (Takkinen et al., 1983) a-amylases
have been aligned so as tomaximize the structural homology present. The single-letter code is used to identify amino acids and
the residue numbering is based on the sequence of human pancreatic a-amylase. Primary sequence identity with that of the human pancreatic enzyme is indicated by the boxes drawn. Also indicated are residues involved in forming the calcium (*) and
chloride (0)binding sites, as well as those residues (0)believed to directly take part in the catalytic mechanism of a-amylase.
Four short segments of polypeptide chain that arehighly conserved in all a-amylases are printed in bold. Portions of polypeptide chain that occur at the same primary sequence location in this figure but that are found to fold in different conformations
between the mammalian and fungal a-amylases are heavily underlined and labeled with the letters A-H. The precise locations
of these structurally different polypeptide chain segments in the three-dimensional structures of human pancreatic and Taka
a-amylases are indicated in Figure 6.
1736
contain a putative active site residue (Boel et al., 1990; Larson
et al., 1994; Qian et al., 1994). In total, these represent 27 amino
All
acids out of the-500 that make up the typical a-amylase.
other regions of the polypeptide chainsequences of animal and
fungal a-amylases haveessentially no homology when aligned
using traditional methodsbased on matching schemes dependent
solely on amino acid identity.
Despite the results obtained from sequence alignments, recent
structural studies have shown that a-amylases do
have considerable similarity with regard to polypeptide chain folding. With
the availabilityof the atomic coordinates for the porcine (Larson et al., 1994), Taka (Swift et al., 1991), and Niger (Brady
et al., 1991) a-amylases, along with those of the human pancreatic enzyme as determined in this study, it is now possible to take
a structure-based approach to facilitate a more accurate sequence alignment for these a-amylases. We have completed such
a study and the results are presentedin Figure 5 . In this work
an optimal spatial overlapbetween the different a-amylaseswas
achieved by a least-squares fit of main-chainatoms of those residues in the four homologous primary sequence segments
present, in addition to theposition of the bound calcium ion and
the main-chain atoms of those residues with
which it interacts
(29 residues in total).
Figure 6A andKinemage 1 show the structural overlap
achieved for DomainsA and B by this approach for the human
and Taka a-amylases. Itis clear from these results that there is
a high degree of structural homology between these enzymes and
a similar result is obtained when comparisons are madebetween
these and the porcine and Niger enzymes as well. Reference
to such diagrams has allowed a topological assessment of the
true alignment of the primary sequences of these a-amylases
(Fig. 5 ) . Of particular value in these studies was the ability to
use structural correspondence to place the variety of differing
length insertions and deletionsin sequence that occurbetween
these enzymes. The patterns of insertions and deletions observed
in our studies are significantly different than thosederived from
sequence-based alignments (Nakajima et al., 1986) and could
serve to appropriately position the corresponding segments
in the sequences of a-amylases for which structures are still
unavailable.
A difficulty encountered in these structural comparisons
involved Domain C (residues 405-496) and the segment of
polypeptide chain (residues 340-404) linking it to Domain A.
Domain C appears to be only loosely linked to the core of
a-amylase formedby Domains A and B and has a substantially
shifted overall positioning in the fungal enzymes. Thus, despite
having a comparable overall fold in all four enzymes, it could
not be properly aligned as described above. Also presenting a
difficulty is the fact that there are no discernible segments of
primary sequence homology in Domain C that might form the
basis for overlapping this structural element
between different
a-amylases.
To resolve this problem, thebest structural overlapbetween
the human, Taka, andNiger a-amylase structuresbased on Domains A and B was taken as an initial starting point. Then the
polypeptide chain of the Taka and Niger structures was artificially cleaved at residue 340, which is at the start of the polypeptide chain segment linking DomainsA and C. With the aid
of a molecular graphics workstation, DomainC of each fungal
enzyme was then rotated and translated achieve
to
the maximal
overlap of main-chain coordinates with Domain C of human
1737
"275
ments, it is less clear what might be promoting alternative polypeptide chain conformations.For the most part these segments
consist of extended loops andin their new conformations interact with different surface groups. Itis likely that long-rangeinteractions formed by alternative amino acids substituted in other
portions of the polypeptide chain dictate the preferential folding of these loops, which have greater freedom of movement
than polypeptide chains buried in the coreof the enzyme. These
results serve to highlight another difficulty in comparing primary sequences of low homology in the absence of structural
information.
Fig. 6 . Stereo drawings of optimized overlaps of the course of the polypeptide chains
of (A) residues 1-339 and (B) residues 340496 of human (thick lines) and Taka (thin
lines) a-amylases. Residues 1-339 comprise
Domain B and most of Domain A (Fig. 1).
Overlap of these two domainswas based on
a least-squares fit of the main-chain atoms
of residues in four segments of conserved
primary sequence between these enzymes,
as well as those forming ligandsin a common calcium binding site (Table 2). Positions of the calcium and chloride ions
bound to human a-amylase are also drawn.
Residues 340-496 represent the linker region between Domains A and C, and Domain C itself. Although Domain C has a
similar folding topology in the humanand
Taka a-amylases, it has a different placement with respect to Domains A and B in
these enzymes. Structural overlap of Domain C was achieved by cleavage of the
polypeptide chain at residue340, followed
by manual and least-squares refinement
to achieve the best correspondence as described in the text. These results show that
Domain C in Taka a-amylase is rotated and
translated by 21.2" and 6.4 A, with respect
to its human counterpart. As described in
the text and indicated in Figure 5 , there are
eight segments of corresponding primary
sequence between the mammalian and fungal a-amylases that in fact have very different structural conformations. These are
indicated by the arrows and the
letters A-H.
See Figure 5 for theexact alignment of these
segments. The primary sequence numberingshown is that of human pancreatic
a-amylase (Fig. 5) and every 25th amino
acid along the polypeptide chain hasbeen
labeled, along with the terminal ends.
of differences in the identities of some of the amino acidsinvolved. This can be explainedby the fact that, with the exception of the replacement of Asn 100 for an aspartate in Niger
a-amylase, the main-chain atoms of substituted amino acids
form interactions to thecalcium atom. A comprehensive list of
the interactions formed within this calcium binding site in all
four a-amylases is given in Table 2. It is notable that the sequence alignment in Figure 5 does indicate higher than background homologies for segments including
residues interacting
with calcium. This includes residues 157-160 and 165-168, which
are not associatedwith catalytic residues. Theseresults suggest
that calcium binding has similar
roles in the animal and fungal
enzymes in organizing and stabilizing the structure of Domain
B. Additional calcium binding sites found in the plant and fungal a-amylases (Boel et al., 1990; Kadziola et al., 1994), but that
are absent in the animal enzymes,do not appear toplay a primary role in function.
Another important ionbinding site in the animal cy-amylases
is that for chloride, which acts as an allosteric activator (Levitzki
& Steer, 1974; Lifshitz & Levitzki, 1976). Coordination of this
ion is provided by the side chains of Arg 195, Asn 298, and
Arg 337 (Table 1) and the structure of
this binding site is shown
1738
et al. (1994) are available and are used herein for structural
comparisons.
A plot of the average positional deviations
between mainchain atomsin the structuresof human and porcine a-amylases
is shown in Figure 8. The overall value for all main-chain atoms
was found to be
0.32 A. In total there are four
regions of polypeptide chain with significantly different conformations between
these enzymes. These include residues237-250, 304-310, 346354, and 458-461. The first of these conformational differences
is located adjacent toa highly conserved segment of primary sequence (residues 233-236; Fig. 5 ) , which includes the active site
residue Glu 233. Four amino acid substitutions occur in this vicinity at residues 241, 245, 246, and 249. Of these, the need to
fit a proline in place of an alanine at position 241 in human
a-amylase appears tobe responsible for the conformationaldifferences observed. Pro 241 also causes the peptide bond between
Leu 237 and Gly 238 to flip by 180" and thecourse of thepolypeptide chain in this regionto execute a wider turn thanseen in
porcine a-amylase. Also affected is the positioning of the a-helix
that starts near Pro 241, but substitution of glycine at residue
249 (serine in porcine a-amylase) seems to limit this shift and
beyond this latter residue the conformation of the polypeptide
chain of both enzymes resumes a similarcourse. As Figure 2 indicates, overall this region of polypeptide chainhas higher thermal parameters than the average.
A second region of conformational differences is also in the
active site and involves residues 304-310 (Fig. 8). It follows imHuman and porcine pancreatic a-amylases
mediately after a highly conserved segment of primary sequence
(residues 294-301) that contains the catalytic residue Asp
300.
It is of interest to compare the polypeptide chain folding
of
As shownin Figure 2, the loop formedby residues 304-3 10 exthe human andporcine a-amylases to gain someinsight into the
hibits the highest thermal factors observed in the structure of
differing substrate and cleavage pattern specificities observed
human a-amylase and much
of this flexibility is undoubtedly rebetween these related mammalian enzymes (for a review see
lated to the fact that four of seven
the residues involved are glyToda [1988] and references therein). As Figure5 shows, there
are 70 amino acid substitutionsbetween the sequences of these cines. Only one amino acid substitutionis present, with Ser 310
in human a-amylase.
enzymes and these are
likely the basis for the functional differ- of the porcine enzyme becoming alanine
Although seemingly a small change, residue 310 is directly in the
ences observed. Of the two recent structural determinations
of
active site region and may be a factor in specificity differences
porcine a-amylase, the atomic coordinates for those
of Larson
Domain A
2.0
1-99
'
Domain B
100-168
1739
Domain A
169 404
Domain C
405 496
1.8
Fig. 8. Plot of the average positional deviations of main-chain atoms between the
structures of human and porcine pancreatic a-amylases. The horizontal
line drawn
represents the overall RMS deviation observed for these atoms of 0.32 A. At the top
of this plot is an indication of how these
a-amylases are divided into structural domains and the location of catalytic amino
acids ( 0 )and those involved in calcium (*)
and chloride (0)ion binding.
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
496
Residue Number
between these enzymes. In porcine a-amylase, this region also 459 and 460. The different conformations of Type I and 11
has high thermal factors, but,on the binding of an inhibitor in 0-turns accounts for theside-chain shifts observed between human and porcine or-amylase in this region. It is possible that
the active site, it becomes much more structured (Qian et al.,
1993, 1994). Thus, it appears that the loop formedby residues
larger differences in structure are avoided due to the
stabilizing
effect ofa local disulfide bridgebetween residues 450 and 462.
304-310 functions by shifting to enhance bindingto substrates
in the activesite as part of catalysis and then
moves away to al- Most of this region of polypeptide chain is deleted in the fungal a-amylases (Fig. 5).
low for therelease of products and thecomplexation of the next
Thus, in terms of structural differences,it seems that at least
substrate molecule. This would explain not only the multiple
two of four such regions may have an impact on the observed
conformations observed for this loop between or-amylases but
differential substrate andcleavage pattern specificities between
also the high incidence of glycine residues that would facilitate
human andporcine a-amylases. Oneof these (residues 237-250)
flexibility in the polypeptide chain at this point. Itis notable that,
involves multiple mutationsin a segment of polypeptide chain
with the exception of residue 304, this region of polypeptide
adjacent toa highly conserved region of primary sequence conchain is deleted from the fungal a-amylases.
taining the catalytic residue Glu 233. Although the structural
A third region of conformational differences between the
shifts observed d o not affect the placement of Glu 233 (Fig. 7
human and porcine a-amylases occursin the extended 0-loop
formed by residues 346-354. This portion of polypeptide chain and Kinemage 5). they could potentially modifylocal substrate
binding preferences. The second region (residues 304-310) is pois part of the link between the Aand C domains ofthese enzymes
sitioned directly in the active site and is known to interact di(Figs. 1, 5 and Kinemages 1 and 2) and exhibits high thermal
rectly with bound substrate. There is one mutation in this area
factors (Fig. 2). A total of three amino acid substitutions are
(residue 310) between the human andporcine a-amylase primary
present, involving residues 347, 349, and 352 (Fig. 5 ) . The side
sequences, and the conformation of this loop
in the absence of
chains of Gln 347, Gln 349, Asn 350, and Asn 352 all take on
substrate is significantly different in these two enzymes (Fig. 8).
substantially different conformationsin human a-amylase, and
this is coupled with a flip of the peptide bond
between Gln 349
Whether this conformational difference translates into
a differand Asn 350. This new peptide bond conformation results in a
ent mode of binding to substrates remains to be determined
through structural analysis ofa substrate or inhibitor complex
new P-turn structure being formedin this region with a hydrogen bond being made between the carbonyl group of Asn350
with human a-amylase. The structuraldifferences observed for
and the amide group of Asn
352. As Figure5 indicates, this porthe two other portionsof polypeptide chain (residues 346-354
tion of polypeptide chain has a substantially different conforand 458-461) that are distant from the active
site are less likely
to be involved in substrate binding except as part of remote bindmation in the fungal a-amylase.
ing interactions with large polymeric substrates.
A final region of conformational differences involves residues
458-461, which form an 0-turn about midway through Domain
C . All four of theseresidues have different identities in human
Human pancreatic and salivary a-amylases
and porcine a-amylase (Fig. 5 ) . The shifts observed in Figure 8 are likely due to the exchange
of glycine and asparagine
In humans, or-amylase is encoded by a multigene family located
residues a t positions 459 and 460 between these enzyme seon chromosome I (Gumucio et a]., 1988). The regulation of
quences. Gly 459 is located at theR2 position of a Type I @-turn
these genes is such that different a-amylases are
expressed in a
in porcine a-amylase. In the human enzyme, Gly
460 is located
tissue-specific manner in salivary glands and the pancreas.As
at the R3 position, which allows for the formation ofa Type 11
is apparent from Figure5 the primary sequencesof the pancre@-turn witha flip of the central peptide bondbetween residues
atic andsalivary a-amylases arevery similar with -97% homol-
1740
G.D.Brayer et al.
1741
deviation
Restraint
RMS
Stereochemical
parameter
values
weight
ideal
from
Distances ( A )
Bond (1-2)
Angle (1-3)
Planar ( 1 -4)
Planes ( A )
Chiral volumes ( A 3 )
Nonbonded contacts(A)
Single torsion
Multiple torsion
Possible hydrogen bond
Torsion angles (")
Planar (0" or 180")
Staggered (+60", 180")
Orthonormal (*90")
0.016
0.016
0.036
0.049
0.025
0.050
0.008
0.010
0.122
0.080
0.181
0.132
0.135
0.150
0.150
0.150
2.5
20.0
1.9
16.7
32.1
15.0
Resolution (A)
2.0
A
'
Acknowledgments
We thank Robert Besterd and Dr. Joanne Wright of the UBC Health
Sciences Center Hospital for assistance in obtaining pancreatic material. X-ray diffraction data were collected on area detectors generously
made availableby Professor Louis Delbaere (University of Saskatchewan), Professor Daniel Yang (McMaster University), and Dr. Jan Troup
(Molecular Structure Corporation).Yili Wang provided technicalassistance in protein purification and crystallization. Access to the atomic
coordinates for porcine a-amylase by Dr. Steven Larson and Professor Alex McPherson is gratefully acknowledged. This work was supported by an operating grant from the Medical Research Council of
Canada (MT-10940).
1.x
1.0
0.9 e,
ox
0.7 2
06
0s 0
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