Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Comparing the Affinity of GTPase-binding Proteins using Competition Assays
Published on: October 8, 2015
Crystallographic evidence for substrate-assisted GTP hydrolysis by a small GTP binding protein
Sebastiano Pasqualato1, Jacqueline Cherfils
1Laboratoire d'Enzymologie et Biochimie Structurales, CNRS, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
Abstract:
GTP hydrolysis by small GTP binding proteins of the Ras superfamily is a universal reaction that controls multiple cellular regulations. Its enzymic mechanism has been the subject of long-standing debates as to the existence/identity of the general base and the electronic nature of its transition state. Here we report the high-resolution crystal structure of a small GTP binding protein, Rab11, solved in complex with GDP and Pi. Unexpectedly, a Pi oxygen and the GDP-cleaved oxygen are located less than 2.5 A apart, suggesting that they share a proton, likely in the form of a low-barrier hydrogen bond. This implies that the gamma-phosphate of GTP was protonated; hence, that GTP acts as a general base. Furthermore, this interaction should establish at, and stabilize, the transition state. Altogether, we propose a revised model for the GTPase reaction that should reconcile earlier models into a unique substrate-assisted mechanism.
Related Concept Videos
GTPases and their Regulation
Large G-proteins, also known...
Small GTPases - Ras and Rho
Three regulatory proteins control their activity:
Activation and Inactivation of G Proteins
Coat Assembly and GTPases
Coat assembly depends on the local availability of phosphatidylinositol phosphates or PIPs and GTP-binding proteins. Adaptor proteins, which link the coat proteins to the membrane, bind to these PIPs and play a crucial role in controlling...
Mechanical Protein Functions
Rab Proteins
Rab proteins switch between a cytosolic, GDP-bound inactive state and a membrane-anchored, GTP-bound active state. By themselves, Rabs show slow rates of GDP/GTP exchange and GTP hydrolysis. Thus, Rab proteins are considered...

