Mammalian phenylalanine hydroxylase (PheH) is an allosteric enzyme that catalyzes the first step in the catabolism of the amino acid phenylalanine. Following allosteric activation by high phenylalanine levels, the enzyme catalyzes the pterin-dependent conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine. Inability to control elevated phenylalanine levels in the blood leads to increased risk of mental disabilities commonly associated with the inherited metabolic disorder, phenylketonuria. Although extensively studied, structural changes associated with allosteric activation in mammalian PheH have been elusive. Here, we examine the complex allosteric mechanisms of rat PheH using X-ray crystallography, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). We describe crystal structures of the preactivated state of the PheH tetramer depicting the regulatory domains docked against the catalytic domains and preventing substrate binding. Using SAXS, we further describe the domain movements involved in allosteric activation of PheH in solution and present the first demonstration of chromatography-coupled SAXS with Evolving Factor Analysis (EFA), a powerful method for separating scattering components in a model-independent way. Together, these results support a model for allostery in PheH in which phenylalanine stabilizes the dimerization of the regulatory domains and exposes the active site for substrate binding and other structural changes needed for activity.

Ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) are responsible for all de novo biosynthesis of DNA precursors in nature by catalyzing the conversion of ribonucleotides to deoxyribonucleotides. Because of its essential role in cell division, human RNR is a target for a number of anticancer drugs in clinical use. Like other class Ia RNRs, human RNR requires both a radical-generation subunit (β) and nucleotide-binding subunit (α) for activity. Because of their complex dependence on allosteric effectors, however, the active and inactive quaternary forms of many class Ia RNRs have remained in question. Here, we present an X-ray crystal structure of the human α subunit in the presence of inhibiting levels of dATP, depicting a ring-shaped hexamer (α6) where the active sites line the inner hole. Surprisingly, our small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) results indicate that human α forms a similar hexamer in the presence of ATP, an activating effector. In both cases, α6 is assembled from dimers (α2) without a previously proposed tetramer intermediate (α4). However, we show with SAXS and electron microscopy that at millimolar ATP, the ATP-induced α6 can further interconvert with higher-order filaments. Differences in the dATP- and ATP-induced α6 were further examined by SAXS in the presence of the β subunit and by activity assays as a function of ATP or dATP. Together, these results suggest that dATP-induced α6 is more stable than the ATP-induced α6 and that stabilization of this ring-shaped configuration provides a mechanism to prevent access of the β subunit to the active site of α.