Published in

MDPI, Life, 1(11), p. 31, 2021

DOI: 10.3390/life11010031

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Studying GGDEF Domain in the Act: Minimize Conformational Frustration to Prevent Artefacts

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

GGDEF-containing proteins respond to different environmental cues to finely modulate cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) levels in time and space, making the allosteric control a distinctive trait of the corresponding proteins. The diguanylate cyclase mechanism is emblematic of this control: two GGDEF domains, each binding one GTP molecule, must dimerize to enter catalysis and yield c-di-GMP. The need for dimerization makes the GGDEF domain an ideal conformational switch in multidomain proteins. A re-evaluation of the kinetic profile of previously characterized GGDEF domains indicated that they are also able to convert GTP to GMP: this unexpected reactivity occurs when conformational issues hamper the cyclase activity. These results create new questions regarding the characterization and engineering of these proteins for in solution or structural studies.