In Mycobacterium tuberculosis the
sulfate activating complex provides a key branching point in
sulfate assimilation. The complex consists of two
polypeptide chains, CysD and CysN. CysD is an
ATP sulfurylase that, with the energy provided by the
GTPase activity of CysN, forms adenosine-5'-phosphosulfate (APS) which can then enter the reductive branch of
sulfate assimilation leading to the biosynthesis of
cysteine. The CysN
polypeptide chain also contains an
APS kinase domain (CysC) that phosphorylates APS leading to 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate, the
sulfate donor in the synthesis of
sulfolipids. We have determined the crystal structures of CysC from M.
tuberculosis as a binary complex with
ADP, and as ternary complexes with
ADP and APS and the
ATP mimic
AMP-PNP and APS, respectively, to resolutions of 1.5 Å, 2.1 Å and 1.7 Å, respectively. CysC shows the typical
APS kinase fold, and the structures provide comprehensive views of the catalytic machinery, conserved in this
enzyme family. Comparison to the structure of the human homolog show highly conserved APS and
ATP binding sites, questioning the feasibility of the design of specific inhibitors of mycobacterial CysC. Residue Cys556 is part of the flexible lid region that closes off the active site upon substrate binding. Mutational analysis revealed this residue as one of the determinants controlling lid closure and hence binding of the
nucleotide substrate.