Multiple Ligand-Bound States of a Phosphohexomutase Revealed by Principal Component Analysis of NMR Peak Shifts

Enzymes sample multiple conformations during their catalytic cycles. Chemical shifts from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) are hypersensitive to conformational changes and ensembles in solution. Phosphomannomutase/phosphoglucomutase (PMM/PGM) is a ubiquitous four-domain enzyme that catalyzes phosphoryl transfer across phosphohexose substrates. We compared states the enzyme visits during its catalytic cycle. Collective responses of Pseudomonas PMM/PGM to phosphosugar substrates and inhibitor were assessed using NMR-detected titrations. Affinities were estimated from binding isotherms obtained by principal component analysis (PCA). Relationships among phosphosugar-enzyme associations emerge from PCA comparisons of the titrations. COordiNated Chemical Shifts bEhavior (CONCISE) analysis provides novel discrimination of three ligand-bound states of PMM/PGM harboring a mutation that suppresses activity. Enzyme phosphorylation and phosphosugar binding appear to drive the open dephosphorylated enzyme to the free phosphorylated state, and on toward ligand-closed states. Domain 4 appears central to collective responses to substrate and inhibitor binding. Hydrogen exchange reveals that binding of a substrate analogue enhances folding stability of the domains to a uniform level, establishing a globally unified structure. CONCISE and PCA of NMR spectra have discovered novel states of a well-studied enzyme and appear ready to discriminate other enzyme and ligand binding states.