ATP-dependent conformational dynamics in a photoactivated adenylate cyclase revealed by fluorescence spectroscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering

Structural insights into the photoactivated adenylate cyclases can be used to develop new ways of controlling cellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels for optogenetic and other applications. In this work, we use an integrative approach that combines biophysical and structural biology methods to provide insight on the interaction of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) with the dark-adapted state of the photoactivated adenylate cyclase from the cyanobacterium Oscillatoria acuminata (OaPAC). A moderate affinity of the nucleotide for the enzyme was calculated and the thermodynamic parameters of the interaction have been obtained. Stopped-flow fluorescence spectroscopy and small-angle solution scattering have revealed significant conformational changes in the enzyme, presumably in the adenylate cyclase (AC) domain during the allosteric mechanism of ATP binding to OaPAC with small and large-scale movements observed to the best of our knowledge for the first time in the enzyme in solution upon ATP binding. These results are in line with previously reported drastic conformational changes taking place in several class III AC domains upon nucleotide binding.