Phosphoryl transfer by a concerted reaction mechanism in UMP/CMP‐kinase

Abstract

The reaction mechanism of phosphoryl transfer catalyzed by UMP/CMP‐kinase from Dictyostelium discoideum was investigated by semiempirical AM1 molecular orbital computations of an active site model system derived from crystal structures that contain a transition state analog or a bisubstrate inhibitor. The computational results suggest that the nucleoside monophosphate must be protonated for the forward reaction while it is unprotonated in the presence of aluminium fluoride, a popular transition state analog for phosphoryl transfer reactions. Furthermore, a compactification of the active site model system during the reaction and for the corresponding complex containing AlF 3 was observed. For the active site residues that are part of the LID domain, conformational flexibility during the reaction proved to be crucial. On the basis of the calculations, a concerted phosphoryl transfer mechanism is suggested that involves the synchronous shift of a proton from the monophosphate to the transferred PO 3 ‐group. The proposed mechanism is thus analogous to the phosphoryl transfer mechanism in cAMP‐dependent protein kinase that phosphorylates the hydroxyl groups of serine residues.