Crystal structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase

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Abstract
The crystal structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.1) has been determined to 2.05 Å resolution in the presence of the cofactor pyridoxal‐5′‐phosphate and the competitive inhibitor maleate. The structure was solved by the method of molecular replacement. The final value of the crystallographic R‐factor after refinement was 23.1% with good geometry of the final model. The yeast cytoplasmic enzyme is a homodimer with two identical active sites containing residues from each subunit. It is found in the “closed” conformation with a bound maleate inhibitor in each active site. It shares the same three‐dimensional fold and active site residues as the aspartate aminotransferases from Escherichia coli, chicken cytoplasm, and chicken mitochondria, although it shares less than 50% sequence identity with any of them. The availability of four similar enzyme structures from distant regions of the evolutionary tree provides a measure of tolerated changes that can arise during millions of years of evolution.