Nuclear overhauser effect studies on the conformation of magnesium adenosine 5'-triphosphate bound to rabbit muscle creatine kinase

Nuclear Overhauser effects were used to determine interproton distances on MgATP bound to rabbit muscle creatine kinase. The internuclear distances were used in a distance geometry program that objectively determines both the conformation of the bound MgATP and its uniqueness. Two classes of structures were found that satisfied the measured interproton distances. Both classes had the same anti glycosidic torsional angle (chi = 78 +/- 10 degrees) but differed in their ribose ring puckers (O1'-endo or C4'-exo). The uniqueness of the glycosidic torsional angle is consistent with the preference of creatine kinase for adenine nucleotides. One of these conformations of MgATP bound to creatine kinase is indistinguishable from the conformation found for Co(NH3)4ATP bound to the catalytic subunit of protein kinase, which also has a high specificity for adenine nucleotides [chi = 78 +/- 10 degrees, O1'-endo; Rosevear, P.R., Bramson, H.N., O'Brian, C., Kaiser, E.T., & Mildvan, A.S. (1983) Biochemistry 22, 3439]. Distance geometry calculations also suggest that upper limit distances, when low enough (less than or equal to 3.4 A), can be used instead of measured distances to define, within experimental error, the glycosidic torsional angle of bound nucleotides. However, this approach does not permit an evaluation of the ribose ring pucker.