Structure of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from the archaeal hyperthermophile Methanocaldococcus jannaschii

The X-ray crystal structure of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (Mj-GAPDH) was determined to 1.81 Å resolution. The crystal belonged to space group C222₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 83.4, b = 152.0, c = 118.6 Å. The structure was solved by molecular replacement and was refined to a final R factor of 17.1% (R_free = 19.8%). The final structure included the cofactor NADP⁺ at the nucleotide-binding site and featured unoccupied inorganic and substrate phosphate-binding sites. A comparison with GAPDH structures from mesophilic sources suggested that Mj-GAPDH is stabilized by extensive electrostatic interactions between the C-terminal α-helices and various distal loop regions, which are likely to contribute to thermal stability. The key phosphate-binding residues in the active site of Mj-GAPDH are conserved in other archaeal GAPDH proteins. These residues undergo a conformational shift in response to occupancy of the inorganic phosphate site.