Conformational Polymorphism of m(7)GTP in Crystal Structure of the PB2 Middle Domain from Human Influenza A Virus

Influenza pandemics with human-to-human transmission of the virus are of great public concern. It is now recognized that a number of factors are necessary for human transmission and virulence, including several key mutations within the PB2 subunit of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The structure of the middle domain in PB2 has been revealed with or without m(7)GTP, thus the middle domain is considered to be novel target for structure-based drug design. Here we report the crystal structure of the middle domain of H1N1 PB2 with or without m(7)GTP at 1.9Å and 2.0Å resolution, respectively, which has two mutations (P453H, I471T) to increase electrostatic potential and solubility. Here we report the m(7)GTP has unique conformation differ from the reported structure. 7-methyl-guanine is fixed in the pocket, but particularly significant change is seen in ribose and triphosphate region: the buried 7-methyl-guanine indeed binds in the pocket forming by H357, F404, E361 and K376 but the triphosphate continues directly to the outer domain. The presented conformation of m(7)GTP may be a clue for the anti-influenza drug-design.