Solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Structure of Membrane-Integral Diacylglycerol Kinase

Abstract

Opening the Portico Escherichia coli diacylglycerol kinase (DAGK) represents a family of integral membrane phosphotransferases that function in prokaryotic-specific metabolic pathways. Van Horn et al. (p. 1726 ) determined the structure of the 40-kilodalton functional homotrimer of E. coli DAGK by solution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Each monomer comprises three transmembrane helices. The third transmembrane helix from each subunit is domain-swapped to pack against the first and second transmembrane helices from an adjacent subunit. These three helices frame a portico-like membrane-submerged cavity that contains residues critical for activity in close proximity to residues critical for folding. The structure provides insight into the determinants of lipid substrate specificity and phosphotransferase activity.