Hong Yu

Catalase-peroxidase (KatG) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a bifunctional heme enzyme that has been shown to play an important role in the activation of a first line drug, isoniazid (INH), used in the treatment of tuberculosis infection. Mutations in the katG gene have been found to be associated with INH resistance. The most commonly encountered mutation is the Ser315Thr point mutation. In this dissertation, the x-ray crystallographic structures of MtbKatG and the mutant enzyme KatG[S315T] are presented to explore the molecular basis of the INH activation and resistance. The structure is dimeric and contains a heme cofactor in each subunit of the dimer. The most important change in KatG[S315T] is due to the presence of the methyl group of the threonine 315 side chain, which is located at the narrowest part of the substrate channel. The protruding methyl group effectively constricts the accessibility to the heme by closing down the dimensions of the channel, constraining the substrate entrance. VirB11 of Brucella abortus is a hexameric ATPase that belongs to the type IV secretion system. The crystal structure of BaVirB11 was found to contain six molecules per asymmetric unit. The Walker A (P loop), His box, and Glu box from the C-terminal domain are located at the interface of the N- and C-terminal domain. A large conformational change was found in the linker region when compared with that of HP0525 structure, the VirB11 analogous from H. pylori. To elucidate the functional role of each domain, seven functional mutations were generated and used for biochemical studies. The GER motif and the linker region were found to be crucial for ATP hydrolysis activity of BaVirB11. Mutations in the GER motif (R101Q) and the linker region (R120E) of BaVirB11 completely abolish the ATP hydrolysis activity of the enzyme. The binding affinities of the two mutants to the ATP; however, are similar to that of the wild-type enzyme, indicating that mutation in the GER motif or the linker region has no effect on ATP binding.

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