Mapping the ATP-binding site in the catalytic subunit of adenosine-3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase. Spatial relationship with the ATP site of the undissociated enzyme.

A set of 24 ATP analogs modified at various positions of the ATP molecule was used for mapping the ATP-binding site in the free catalytic subunit (C) of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (type I). Ki values for these analogs (of which 23 were shown to be competitive with ATP) were measured and compared with Ki values previously obtained for the same set of analogs upon binding to the undissociated form of the enzyme (R2C2). It was found that modifications at the adenine part of ATP bring about a considerable reduction in affinity between C and the resulting analog. The other parts of the ATP molecule play a less important, though definite, role in the binding of this nucleotide to C. By measuring the effect of each given modification in ATP on its binding to C, and comparing the effect of this modification on the binding of the same analog to R2C2, it was possible to obtain 'specificity profiles' for both forms of the kinase. Using such profiles it is shown that the adenine-binding subsite in C may well coincide with the adenine-binding subsite in R2C2. Two plausible models describing the spatial relationship between the ATP sites in C and R2C2 are proposed.