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A SOLID-STATE P-31-NMR INVESTIGATION OF THE ALLOSTERIC TRANSITION IN GLYCOGEN PHOSPHORYLASE-B

TitleA SOLID-STATE P-31-NMR INVESTIGATION OF THE ALLOSTERIC TRANSITION IN GLYCOGEN PHOSPHORYLASE-B
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1993
AuthorsCHALLONER, R, MCDOWELL, CA, STIRTAN, W, Withers, SG
JournalBIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume64
Pagination484-491
Date PublishedFEB
ISSN0006-3495
Abstract

The catalytic role of the cofactor phosphate moiety at the active site of glycogen phosphorylase has been the subject of many investigations including solution-state high-resolution P-31-NMR studies. In this study the pyridoxal phosphate moiety in both the inactive and active forms of microcrystalline phosphorylase b has been investigated by high-resolution P-31 magic-angle spinning NMR. The symmetry of the shielding tensor in model compounds at varying degrees of ionization is investigated and the results indicate a marked difference between the dianionic and monoanionic model compounds. Consequently, the observed similarity in the principal tensor components describing the shielding tensor of the phosphorus nuclei present at the active site of both the R- and T-state conformations suggests that there is no change in ionization state upon activation in contrast to suggestions based upon isotropic shifts. Since previous relaxation measurements have pointed to the need to consider motional influences in such systems, several plausible models are considered. Subject to the assumption of congruency between the principal axis system describing the shielding interaction and a molecular frame determined by the molecular symmetry axes, we conclude that the phosphate cofactor is dianionic in both forms.