Structure and diffusive dynamics of aspartate α-decarboxylase (ADC) liganded with d-serine in aqueous solution

Incoherent neutron spectroscopy, in combination with dynamic light scattering, was used to investigate the effect of ligand binding on the center-of-mass self-diffusion and internal diffusive dynamics of Escherichia coli aspartate α-decarboxylase (ADC). The X-ray crystal structure of ADC in complex with the d-serine inhibitor was also determined, and molecular dynamics simulations were used to further probe the structural rearrangements that occur as a result of ligand binding. These experiments reveal that d-serine forms hydrogen bonds with some of the active site residues, that higher order oligomers of the ADC tetramer exist on ns–ms time-scales, and also show that ligand binding both affects the ADC internal diffusive dynamics and appears to further increase the size of the higher order oligomers.