Serendipitous Identification of a Covalent Activator of Liver Pyruvate Kinase.

Battisti UM, Gao C, Nilsson O, Akladios F, Lulla A, Bogucka A, Nain-Perez A, Håversen L, Kim W, Boren J, Hyvönen M, Uhlen M, Mardinoglu A, Grøtli M

Chembiochem 24 (1) e202200339 [2023-01-03; online 2022-11-09]

Enzymes are effective biological catalysts that accelerate almost all metabolic reactions in living organisms. Synthetic modulators of enzymes are useful tools for the study of enzymatic reactions and can provide starting points for the design of new drugs. Here, we report on the discovery of a class of biologically active compounds that covalently modifies lysine residues in human liver pyruvate kinase (PKL), leading to allosteric activation of the enzyme (EC50 =0.29 μM). Surprisingly, the allosteric activation control point resides on the lysine residue K282 present in the catalytic site of PKL. These findings were confirmed by structural data, MS/MS experiments, and molecular modelling studies. Altogether, our study provides a molecular basis for the activation mechanism and establishes a framework for further development of human liver pyruvate kinase covalent activators.

Adil Mardinoglu

SciLifeLab Fellow

PubMed 36250581

DOI 10.1002/cbic.202200339

Crossref 10.1002/cbic.202200339

pmc: PMC10099687


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