OPEN Structure of mycobacterial maltokinase, SUBJECT AREAS: the missing link in the essential STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY GLYCOBIOLOGY GlgE-pathway Joana Fraga1*, Ana Maranha2*, Vitor Mendes2, Pedro Jose´ Barbosa Pereira1, Nuno Empadinhas2 Received & Sandra Macedo-Ribeiro1 2 September 2014 Accepted 1IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal, 2CNC - Center for Neuroscience and Cell 2 January 2015 Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. Published 26 January 2015 A novel four-step pathway identified recently in mycobacteria channels trehalose to glycogen synthesis and is also likely involved in the biosynthesis of two other crucial polymers: intracellular methylglucose lipopolysaccharides and exposed capsular glucan. The structures of three of the intervening enzymes - GlgB, Correspondence and GlgE, and TreS - were recently reported, providing the first templates for rational drug design. Here we describe the structural characterization of the fourth enzyme of the pathway, mycobacterial maltokinase requests for materials (Mak), uncovering a eukaryotic-like kinase (ELK) fold, similar to methylthioribose kinases and should be addressed to aminoglycoside phosphotransferases. The 1.15 A˚ structure of Mak in complex with a non-hydrolysable ATP N.E. (numenius@cnc. analog reveals subtle structural rearrangements upon nucleotide binding in the cleft between the N- and the uc.pt) or S.M.-R. C-terminal lobes. Remarkably, this new family of ELKs has a novel N-terminal domain topologically (
[email protected]) resembling the cystatin family of protease inhibitors. By interfacing with and restraining the mobility of the phosphate-binding region of the N-terminal lobe, Mak’s unusual N-terminal domain might regulate its phosphotransfer activity and represents the most likely anchoring point for TreS, the upstream enzyme in * These authors the pathway.