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Protein Sci. 2008 May; 17(5): 878–886.
doi: 10.1110/ps.073398508.
PMCID: PMC2327275
Structural basis for the NAD-hydrolysis mechanism and the ARTT-loop plasticity of C3 exoenzymes
Julie Ménétrey,1,2 Gilles Flatau,3 Patrice Boquet,3 André Ménez,4 and Enrico A. Stura5
1Institut Curie, Centre de Recherche, Paris F-75248, France
2Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR144, Paris F-75248, France
3INSERM U452, Faculté de médecine, 06107 Nice Cedex 2, France
4Museum d'histoire naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
5Service d'Ingénierie Moléculaire des Protéines (SIMOPRO), iBiTec-S, DSV, CEA-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
Received December 10, 2007; Revised February 13, 2008; Accepted February 13, 2008.
Abstract
C3-like exoenzymes are ADP-ribosyltransferases that specifically modify some Rho GTPase proteins, leading to their sequestration in the cytoplasm, and thus inhibiting their regulatory activity on the actin cytoskeleton. This modification process goes through three sequential steps involving NAD-hydrolysis, Rho recognition, and binding, leading to Rho ADP-ribosylation. Independently, three distinct residues within the ARTT loop of the C3 exoenzymes are critical for each of these steps. Supporting the critical role of the ARTT loop, we have shown previously that it adopts a distinct conformation upon NAD binding. Here, we present seven wild-type and ARTT loop-mutant structures of C3 exoenzyme of Clostridium botulinum free and bound to its true substrate, NAD, and to its NAD-hydrolysis product, nicotinamide. Altogether, these structures expand our understanding of the conformational diversity of the C3 exoenzyme, mainly within the ARTT loop.
Keywords: ADP-ribosyltransferase, C3 exoenzyme, ARTT loop, plasticity, crystal structures