Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

X-ray crystallography of the binding of the bacterial cell wall trisaccharide NAM-NAG-NAM to lysozyme

Nature volume 282, pages 875–878 (1979)Cite this article

Abstract

Hen egg white lysozyme was the first enzyme whose structure was determined by X-ray crystallography1. The proposed mechanism2–4 based on this structure involves the distortion of the saccharide residue (2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-muramic acid, NAM) in the natural substrate5 (an alternating β(1→4) linked oligomer of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose (NAG) and NAM residues) bound to site D in the binding cleft. The importance of substrate distortion has prompted numerous enzymatic6, chemical17, theoretical8–12, and physical13 studies, but there is little direct crystallographic evidence on the conformation of a NAM residue bound at site D. We now present the X-ray structure of the non-hydrolysed13 trisaccharide NAM-NAG-NAM bound in subsites B, C, D. Our interpretation of the 2.5-Å resolution difference map does not involve distortion of this residue in site D. Comparison with the structure of the δ-lactone derived from tetra N-acetylchitotetraose ((NAG)3NAL) bound to lysozyme14 suggests we may be looking at a Michaelis complex.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Blake, C. C. F. et al. Nature 206, 757–761 (1965).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Blake, C. C. F., Mair, G. A., North, A. C. T., Phillips, D. C. & Sarma, V. R. Proc. R. Soc. 167, 365–377 (1967).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Blake, C. C. F. et al. Proc. R. Soc. B167, 378–388 (1967).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Phillips, D. C. Sci. Am. 215, 78–90 (1966).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rupley, J. A. Proc. R. Soc. B167, 416–428 (1967).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Chipman, D. M. Grisaro, V. & Sharon, N. J. biol. Chem. 242, 4388–4394 (1967).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Rand-Meir, T., Dahlquist, F. W. & Raferty, M. A. Biochemistry 8, 4206–4212 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Levitt, M. in Proceedings of the Rehovot Symposium on Poly (Amino Acids), Polypeptides and Proteins and their Biological Implications (eds Blout, E. R., Bovey, F. A., Goodman, M. & Lotan, N.) 99–113 (Wiley, New York, 1974).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Warshel, A. & Levitt, M. J. molec. Biol. 103, 227–249 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Vernon, C. A. Proc. R. Soc. B. 167, 389–401 (1967).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Doonan, S., Vernon, C. A. & Banks, B. B. C. Prog. Biophys. molec. Biol. 20, 249 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Warshel, A. Proc. natn Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 5250–5254 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Patt, S. L., Baldo, J. H., Boekelheide, K., Weisz, G. & Sykes, B. D. Can. J. Biochem. 56, 624–629 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Ford, L. O., Johnson, L. N., Machin, P. A., Phillips, D. C. & Tijan, R. J. molec. Biol. 88, 349–371 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Corey, R. B., Stanford, R. H. Jr, March, R. E., Leung, Y. C. & Kay, L. M. Acta crystallogr. 15, 1157–1163(1962).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Thiessen, W. E. & Levy, H. A. J. appl. Crystallogr. 6, 309 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Mo, F. & Jensen, L. H. Acta crystallogr. B34, 1562–1569 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Knox, J. R. & Murthy, N. S. Acta crystallogr. B30, 365–371 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Brayer, G. D., Delbaere, L. T. J. & James, M. N. G. J. molec. Biol. 124, 243–260 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. North, A. C. T., Phillips, D. C. & Mathews, F. S. Acta crystallogr. A24, 351–359 (1968).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hendrickson, W. A. J. molec. Biol. 106, 889–893 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Stewart, J. M., Kundall, F. A. & Baldwin, J. C. The X-Ray-70 System (University of Maryland, College Park, 1970).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Perkins, S. J., Johnson, L. N., Mackin, P. A. & Phillips, D. C. Biochem. J. 173, 607–616 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Secemski, I. I. Lehrer, S. S. & Lienhard, G. E. J. biol. Chem. 247, 4740–4748 (1972).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Holler, E., Rupley, J. A. & Hess, G. P. Biochemistry 14, 1088–1094 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Holler, E., Rupley, J. A. & Hess, G. P. Biochemistry 14, 2377–2385 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Patt, S. L. thesis, Harvard Univ. (1975).

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Judith A. Kelly

    Present address: Institute of Materials Research, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Group in Protein Structure and Function, Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2H7

    Judith A. Kelly, Anita R. Sielecki, Brian D. Sykes & Michael N. G. James

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Zoology, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK

    David C. Phillips

Authors
  1. Judith A. Kelly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anita R. Sielecki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Brian D. Sykes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael N. G. James
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. David C. Phillips
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kelly, J., Sielecki, A., Sykes, B. et al. X-ray crystallography of the binding of the bacterial cell wall trisaccharide NAM-NAG-NAM to lysozyme. Nature 282, 875–878 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/282875a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/282875a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing