A small, nucleotide-binding domain, the ATP-cone, is found at the N-terminus of most ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) catalytic subunits. By binding adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or deoxyadenosine triphosphate (dATP) it regulates the enzyme activity of all classes of RNR. Functional and structural work on aerobic RNRs has revealed a plethora of ways in which dATP inhibits activity by inducing oligomerisation and preventing a productive radical transfer from one subunit to the active site in the other. Anaerobic RNRs, on the other hand, store a stable glycyl radical next to the active site and the basis for their dATP-dependent inhibition is completely unknown. We present biochemical, biophysical, and structural information on the effects of ATP and dATP binding to the anaerobic RNR from Prevotella copri. The enzyme exists in a dimer-tetramer equilibrium biased towards dimers when two ATP molecules are bound to the ATP-cone and tetramers when two dATP molecules are bound. In the presence of ATP, P. copri NrdD is active and has a fully ordered glycyl radical domain (GRD) in one monomer of the dimer. Binding of dATP to the ATP-cone results in loss of activity and increased dynamics of the GRD, such that it cannot be detected in the cryo-EM structures. The glycyl radical is formed even in the dATP-bound form, but the substrate does not bind. The structures implicate a complex network of interactions in activity regulation that involve the GRD more than 30 Å away from the dATP molecules, the allosteric substrate specificity site and a conserved but previously unseen flap over the active site. Taken together, the results suggest that dATP inhibition in anaerobic RNRs acts by increasing the flexibility of the flap and GRD, thereby preventing both substrate binding and radical mobilisation.

Class I ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) consists of a catalytic subunit (NrdA) and a radical-generating subunit (NrdB) that together catalyze reduction of ribonucleotides to their corresponding deoxyribonucleotides. NrdB from the firmicute Facklamia ignava is a unique fusion protein with N-terminal add-ons of a glutaredoxin (Grx) domain followed by an ATP-binding domain, the ATP cone. Grx, usually encoded separately from the RNR operon, is a known RNR reductant. We show that the fused Grx domain functions as an efficient reductant of the F. ignava class I RNR via the common dithiol mechanism and, interestingly, also via a monothiol mechanism, although less efficiently. To our knowledge, a Grx that uses both of these two reaction mechanisms has not previously been observed with a native substrate. The ATP cone is in most RNRs an N-terminal domain of the catalytic subunit. It is an allosteric on/off switch promoting ribonucleotide reduction in the presence of ATP and inhibiting RNR activity in the presence of dATP. We found that dATP bound to the ATP cone of F. ignava NrdB promotes formation of tetramers that cannot form active complexes with NrdA. The ATP cone bound two dATP molecules but only one ATP molecule. F. ignava NrdB contains the recently identified radical-generating cofactor MnIII/MnIV We show that NrdA from F. ignava can form a catalytically competent RNR with the MnIII/MnIV-containing NrdB from the flavobacterium Leeuwenhoekiella blandensis In conclusion, F. ignava NrdB is fused with a Grx functioning as an RNR reductant and an ATP cone serving as an on/off switch.

The high fidelity of DNA replication and repair is attributable, in part, to the allosteric regulation of ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) that maintains proper deoxynucleotide pool sizes and ratios in vivo. In class Ia RNRs, ATP (stimulatory) and dATP (inhibitory) regulate activity by binding to the ATP-cone domain at the N terminus of the large α subunit and altering the enzyme\'s quaternary structure. Class Ib RNRs, in contrast, have a partial cone domain and have generally been found to be insensitive to dATP inhibition. An exception is the Bacillus subtilis Ib RNR, which we recently reported to be inhibited by physiological concentrations of dATP. Here, we demonstrate that the α subunit of this RNR contains tightly bound deoxyadenosine 5\'-monophosphate (dAMP) in its N-terminal domain and that dATP inhibition of CDP reduction is enhanced by its presence. X-ray crystallography reveals a previously unobserved (noncanonical) α2 dimer with its entire interface composed of the partial N-terminal cone domains, each binding a dAMP molecule. Using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), we show that this noncanonical α2 dimer is the predominant form of the dAMP-bound α in solution and further show that addition of dATP leads to the formation of larger oligomers. Based on this information, we propose a model to describe the mechanism by which the noncanonical α2 inhibits the activity of the B. subtilis Ib RNR in a dATP- and dAMP-dependent manner.

Ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) are key enzymes in DNA metabolism, with allosteric mechanisms controlling substrate specificity and overall activity. In RNRs, the activity master-switch, the ATP-cone, has been found exclusively in the catalytic subunit. In two class I RNR subclasses whose catalytic subunit lacks the ATP-cone, we discovered ATP-cones in the radical-generating subunit. The ATP-cone in the Leeuwenhoekiella blandensis radical-generating subunit regulates activity via quaternary structure induced by binding of nucleotides. ATP induces enzymatically competent dimers, whereas dATP induces non-productive tetramers, resulting in different holoenzymes. The tetramer forms by interactions between ATP-cones, shown by a 2.45 Å crystal structure. We also present evidence for an MnIIIMnIV metal center. In summary, lack of an ATP-cone domain in the catalytic subunit was compensated by transfer of the domain to the radical-generating subunit. To our knowledge, this represents the first observation of transfer of an allosteric domain between components of the same enzyme complex.