Arolas et al. 1 Multiple architectures and mechanisms of latency in metallopeptidase zymogens Joan L. Arolas a,1, Theodoros Goulas 1, Anna Cuppari and F. Xavier Gomis-Rüth * Proteolysis Laboratory; Structural Biology Unit ("María-de-Maeztu" Unit of Excellence); Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (CSIC); Barcelona Science Park; c/Baldiri Reixac, 15-21; 08028 Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). a Present address: Max F. Perutz Laboratories; University of Vienna; Campus Vienna Biocenter 5; 1030 Vienna (Austria). * Corresponding author: Tel.:(+34) 934 020 186; E-mail:
[email protected]. 1 These authors contributed equally and share first authorship. ABSTRACT Metallopeptidases cleave polypeptides bound in the active-site cleft of catalytic domains through a general base/acid- mechanism. This involves a solvent molecule bound to a catalytic zinc and general regulation of the mechanism through zymogen-based latency. Sixty reported structures from eleven metallopeptidase families reveal that pro-segments, mostly N-terminally of the catalytic domain, block the cleft regardless of their size. Pro-segments may be peptides (5-14 residues), which are only structured within the zymogens, or large moieties (<227 residues) of one or two folded domains. While some pro-segments globally shield the catalytic domain through a few contacts, others specifically run across the cleft in the same or opposite direction of a substrate, making numerous interactions. Some pro-segments block the zinc by replacing the solvent with particular side chains, others use terminal α-amino or carboxylate groups. Overall, metallopeptidase zymogens employ disparate mechanisms that diverge even within families, which supports that latency is less conserved than catalysis. CONTENTS 1.