Structural Insights into the Regulation of Staphylococcus aureus Phosphofructokinase by Tetramer-Dimer Conversion

Most reported bacterial phosphofructokinases (Pfks) are tetramers that exhibit activity allosterically regulated via conformational changes between the R and T states. We report that the Pfk from Staphylococcus aureus NCTC 8325 (SaPfk) exists as both an active tetramer and an inactive dimer in solution. Multiple effectors, including pH, ADP, ATP, and adenylyl-imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP), cause equilibrium shifts from the tetramer to dimer, whereas the substrate F6P stabilizes SaPfk tetrameric assembly. Crystal structures of SaPfk in complex with different ligands and biochemical analysis reveal that the flexibility of the Gly150-Leu151 motif in helix alpha 7 plays a role in tetramer-dimer conversion. Thus, we propose a molecular mechanism for allosteric regulation of bacterial Pfk via conversion between the tetramer and dimer in addition to the well-characterized R-state/T-state mechanism.