Refined three-dimensional structure of cat-muscle (M1) pyruvate kinase at a resolution of 2.6 A.

The three-dimensional structure of cat-muscle pyoruvate kinase has been refined at a resolution of 2.6 A. The details of the structure permit interpretation of the original heavy-atom studies and give insight into the importance of conserved residues in pyruvate kinases and the allosteric behaviour of the enzyme. There are a small number of essential residues which determine the relative orientations of domains and the precise nature of intersubunit contacts. Arginine residues are particularly important.