Interaction of phosphorylated elongation factor EF-2 with nucleotides and ribosomes

The intrinsic fluorescence emission spectrum of elongation factor EF-2 due to the 7 Trp residues was not modified after complete phosphorylation of the factor by the specific Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent kinase III. The effect of nucleotide binding on this fluorescence revealed differences between phosphorylated and unmodified EF-2. Low concentrations of GTP had a smaller quenching effect on the fluorescence of phosphorylated EF-2 than on the fluorescence of unmodified EF-2, whereas GDP had exactly the same quenching effect on the fluorescence of both samples. These results suggest that phosphorylation of EF-2 decreased its affinity for GTP but not for GDP. Ability of phosphorylated EF-2 to form a ternary complex with ribosomes in the presence of a non-hydrolysable GTP analog and its ability to protect ribosomes against ricin-inactivation were both decreased to the same extent. The lower affinity of phosphorylated EF-2 for GTP could be responsible for a weaker and/or incorrect interaction of the factor with the ribosome, in particular with the ricin-site of the 28-S rRNA assumed to be involved in translocation initiation.