We have determined the three-dimensional solution
structure of the complex of Lactobacillus casei
dihydrofolate reductase and the anticancer drug trimetrexate.
Two thousand seventy distance, 345 dihedral angle, and
144 hydrogen bond restraints were obtained from analysis
of multidimensional NMR spectra recorded for complexes
containing 15N-labeled protein. Simulated annealing
calculations produced a family of 22 structures fully consistent
with the constraints. Several intermolecular protein-ligand
NOEs were obtained by using a novel approach monitoring
temperature effects of NOE signals resulting from dynamic
processes in the bound ligand. At low temperature (5 °C)
the trimethoxy ring of bound trimetrexate is flipping sufficiently
slowly to give narrow signals in slow exchange, which give
good NOE cross peaks. At higher temperature these broaden
and their NOE cross peaks disappear thus allowing the signals
in the lower-temperature spectrum to be identified as NOEs
involving ligand protons. The binding site for trimetrexate
is well defined and this was compared with the binding
sites in related complexes formed with methotrexate and
trimethoprim. No major conformational differences were
detected between the different complexes. The 2,4-diaminopyrimidine-containing
moieties in the three drugs bind essentially in the same
binding pocket and the remaining parts of their molecules
adapt their conformations such that they can make effective
van der Waals interactions with essentially the same set
of hydrophobic amino acids, the side-chain orientations
and local conformations of which are not greatly changed
in the different complexes (similar χ1
and χ2 values).