The role of re
sidues that are involved in substrate recognition byrabbit muscle proteinphosphatase 1
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(PP1) was investigated by
site-directed mutagene
sisand kinetic analyses u
singphosphorylase
a, RII peptide, Kemptide, and
p-nitrophenyl phosphate as substrates. The atomicstructureof PP1 has shown the active
site to be at the confluence of threeshallow grooves, a C-terminal groove,an acidic groove, and a hydrophobic groove. Mutations of re
siduesD208, D210, D212, E218, D220,E252, D253, E256, E275, and D277 in the acidic groove, of R221, W206,and Y134, which have beensuggested to be involved in substrate binding, and of re
sidues C127,I130, and D197 in the hydrophobicgroove were examined. Our results show that mutations in theacidic groove lead to modest changes insubstrate binding, con
sistent with a role of the acidic re
sidues informing a negatively charged surfacewell for binding of peptides with ba
sic N-termini. Severe effectson
Vmax were observed for mutantsofR221, D208, and W206. These results are con
sistent with theproposal that the R221 plays an importantrole as a phosphate oxygen ligand that po
sitions the substrate forcataly
sis. The kinetic behavior of mutantsat W206 and D208 can be explained by the observation that, togetherwith R221, these re
sidues form themicroenvironment which dictates the orientation of the imidazole ringof H248, one of the metal bindingligands, as well as contributing to the orientation of R221itself.