Coupled structural transitions enable highly cooperative regulation of human CTPS2 filaments

Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2020 Jan;27(1):42-48. doi: 10.1038/s41594-019-0352-5. Epub 2019 Dec 23.

Abstract

Many enzymes assemble into defined oligomers, providing a mechanism for cooperatively regulating activity. Recent studies have described a mode of regulation in which enzyme activity is modulated by polymerization into large-scale filaments. Here we describe an ultrasensitive form of polymerization-based regulation employed by human CTP synthase 2 (CTPS2). Cryo-EM structures reveal that CTPS2 filaments dynamically switch between active and inactive forms in response to changes in substrate and product levels. Linking the conformational state of many CTPS2 subunits in a filament results in highly cooperative regulation, greatly exceeding the limits of cooperativity for the CTPS2 tetramer alone. The structures reveal a link between conformation and control of ammonia channeling between the enzyme's active sites, and explain differences in regulation of human CTPS isoforms. This filament-based mechanism of enhanced cooperativity demonstrates how the widespread phenomenon of enzyme polymerization can be adapted to achieve different regulatory outcomes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases / chemistry*
  • Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases / metabolism
  • Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases / ultrastructure
  • Catalytic Domain
  • Cryoelectron Microscopy
  • Enzyme Activation
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Multimerization*
  • Substrate Specificity

Substances

  • Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases
  • CTPS2 protein, human