2026-02-12 北里大学
<関連情報>
- https://www.kitasato-u.ac.jp/jp/news/20260212-01.html
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-35354-3
NMRと計算手法を用いた酵素反応のリアルタイムモニタリングによる酵素の機能的ホットスポット残基の調査 Investigation of the functional hot-spot residues of an enzyme by real-time monitoring of the enzymatic reaction using NMR and computational approaches
Toshihiko Sugiki,Tomoki Yoshida,Masaki Tsukamoto,Koichiro Miyanishi,Akinori Kagawa,Natsuko Miura,Tomoto Ura,Jun Fukazawa,Yuko Hatanaka,Tsuyoshi Murata,Toshimichi Fujiwara,Masahiro Kitagawa,Yasushi Morita,Kumiko Sakai-Kato,Yoichi Takakusagi,Nobutada Tanaka & Makoto Negoro
Scientific Reports Published:13 January 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-35354-3
Abstract
Favipiravir is an anti-influenza prodrug that is metabolized to its phosphoribosylated form, favipiravir-ribofuranosyl-5′-monophosphate (favipiravir-RMP), by human endogenous enzyme hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT). This enzymatic reaction is the rate-determining step in generating the active form of favipiravir, making it important to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the HGPRT-catalyzed RMP-modification of favipiravir. However, the pharmacokinetics of this reaction have not been fully elucidated, despite X-ray crystallographic studies on the HGPRT-favipiravir complex. Here, we identified functional hot-spot residues in HGPRT that play important roles in the enzymatic conversion of favipiravir to favipiravir-RMP. Real-time monitoring of the HGPRT reaction via ligand-observed solution NMR experiments, biochemical mutagenesis of HGPRT, and computational calculations and molecular dynamics simulations, allowed us to investigate the free binding energetics and structural properties of the interaction between HGPRT and favipiravir-RMP. This powerful hybrid experimental strategy allows the identification of functional hot-spot residues in the enzyme and provide complementary structural biological information. This approach could be universally applicable to investigating drug-protein interaction modes.
