Characterization of the allosteric binding pocket of human liver fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphatase by protein crystallography and inhibitor activity studies

The structures of three complexes of human fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphatase (FB) with the allosteric inhibitor AMP and two AMP analogues have been determined and all fully refined. The data used for structure determination were collected at cryogenic temperature (110 K), and with the use of synchrotron radiation. The structures reveal a common mode of binding for AMP and formycine monophosphate (FMP). 5‐Amino‐4‐carboxamido‐1β‐D‐5‐phosphate‐ribofuranosyl‐1H‐imidazole (AICAR‐P) shows an unexpected mode of binding to FB, different from that of the other two ligands. The imidazole ring of AICAR‐P is rotated 180° compared to the AMP and FMP bases. This rotation results in a slightly different hydrogen bonding pattern and minor changes in the water structure in the binding pocket. Common features of binding are seen for the ribose and phosphate moieties of all three compounds. Although binding in a different mode, AICAR‐P is still capable of making all the important interactions with the residues building the allosteric binding pocket. The IC50 values of AMP, FMP, and AICAR‐P were determined to be 1.7, 1.4, and 20.9 μ, respectively. Thus, the approximately 10 times lower potency of AICAR‐P is difficult to explain solely from the variations observed in the binding pocket. Only one water molecule in the allosteric binding pocket was found to be conserved in all four subunits in all three structures. This water molecule coordinates to a phosphate oxygen atom and the N7 atom of the AMP molecule, and to similarly situated atoms in the FMP and AICAR‐P complexes. This implies an important role of the conserved water molecule in binding of the ligand.