The structure of Enterococcus faecalis thymidylate synthase provides clues about folate bacterial metabolism

Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 2012 Sep;68(Pt 9):1232-41. doi: 10.1107/S0907444912026236. Epub 2012 Aug 18.

Abstract

Drug resistance to therapeutic antibiotics poses a challenge to the identification of novel targets and drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases. Infections caused by Enterococcus faecalis are a major health problem. Thymidylate synthase (TS) from E. faecalis is a potential target for antibacterial therapy. The X-ray crystallographic structure of E. faecalis thymidylate synthase (EfTS), which was obtained as a native binary complex composed of EfTS and 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (5-FTHF), has been determined. The structure provides evidence that EfTS is a half-of-the-sites reactive enzyme, as 5-FTHF is bound to two of the four independent subunits present in the crystal asymmetric unit. 5-FTHF is a metabolite of the one-carbon transfer reaction catalysed by 5-formyltetrahydrofolate cyclo-ligase. Kinetic studies show that 5-FTHF is a weak inhibitor of EfTS, suggesting that the EfTS-5-FTHF complex may function as a source of folates and/or may regulate one-carbon metabolism. The structure represents the first example of endogenous 5-FTHF bound to a protein involved in folate metabolism.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Enterococcus faecalis / enzymology*
  • Folic Acid / chemistry*
  • Folic Acid / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Kinetics
  • Ligands
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Structure, Quaternary
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Sequence Homology
  • Thymidylate Synthase / chemistry*
  • Thymidylate Synthase / metabolism

Substances

  • Ligands
  • Folic Acid
  • Thymidylate Synthase

Associated data

  • PDB/3UWL