The ternary complex of antithrombin-anhydrothrombin-heparin reveals the basis of inhibitor specificity
Alexey Dementiev1, Maurice Petitou, Jean-Marc Herbert
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, 900 S. Ashland, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA.
Antithrombin, the principal physiological inhibitor of the blood coagulation proteinase thrombin, requires heparin as a cofactor. We report the crystal structure of the rate-determining encounter complex formed between antithrombin, anhydrothrombin and an optimal synthetic 16-mer oligosaccharide. The antithrombin reactive center loop projects from the serpin body and adopts a canonical conformation that makes extensive backbone and side chain contacts from P5 to P6' with thrombin's restrictive specificity pockets, including residues in the 60-loop. These contacts rationalize many earlier mutagenesis studies on thrombin specificity. The 16-mer oligosaccharide is just long enough to form the predicted bridge between the high-affinity pentasaccharide-binding site on antithrombin and the highly basic exosite 2 on thrombin, validating the design strategy for this synthetic heparin. The protein-protein and protein-oligosaccharide interactions together explain the basis for heparin activation of antithrombin as a thrombin inhibitor.
Antithrombin, the principal physiological inhibitor of the blood coagulation proteinase thrombin, requires heparin as a cofactor. We report the crystal structure of the rate-determining encounter complex formed between antithrombin, anhydrothrombin and an optimal synthetic 16-mer oligosaccharide. The antithrombin reactive center loop projects from the serpin body and adopts a canonical conformation that makes extensive backbone and side chain contacts from P5 to P6' with thrombin's restrictive specificity pockets, including residues in the 60-loop. These contacts rationalize many earlier mutagenesis studies on thrombin specificity. The 16-mer oligosaccharide is just long enough to form the predicted bridge between the high-affinity pentasaccharide-binding site on antithrombin and the highly basic exosite 2 on thrombin, validating the design strategy for this synthetic heparin. The protein-protein and protein-oligosaccharide interactions together explain the basis for heparin activation of antithrombin as a thrombin inhibitor.
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