Structural Basis of Protein-Protein Interactions between a trans-Acting Acyltransferase and Acyl Carrier Protein in Polyketide Disorazole Biosynthesis.

Acyltransferases (ATs) are responsible for the selection and incorporation of acyl building blocks in the biosynthesis of various polyketide natural products. The trans-AT modular polyketide synthases have a discrete trans-acting AT for the loading of an acyl unit onto the acyl carrier protein (ACP) located within each module. Despite the importance of protein-protein interactions between ATs and ACPs in trans-AT assembly lines, the dynamic actions of ACPs and trans-acting ATs remain largely uncharacterized because of the inherently transient nature of ACP-enzyme interactions. Herein, we report the crystal structure of the AT-ACP complex of disorazole trans-AT polyketide synthase. We used a bromoacetamide pantetheine cross-linking probe in combination with a Cys mutation to trap the transient AT-ACP complex, allowing the determination of the crystal structure of the disorazole AT-ACP complex at 2.03 Å resolution. On the basis of the cross-linked AT-ACP complex structure, ACP residues recognized by trans-acting AT were identified and validated by mutational studies, which demonstrated that the disorazole AT recognizes the loop 1 and helix III' residues of disorazole ACP. The disorazole AT-ACP complex structure presents a foundation for defining the dynamic processes associated with trans-acting ATs and provides detailed mechanistic insights into their ability to recognize ACPs.