E chain, characteristically rich in alanine, proline and charged amino acids that form flexible but extended linkers (143). The numbers of PDH lipoyl domains per E2 subunit varies from one to three. In the PDH complexes of Gram-negative bacteria, the number is usually three (e.g., E. coli and Azotobacter vinelandii) or two (e.g. Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, Alcaligenes eutrophus, and Thiobacillus ferrooxidans) (9). All of the 2-OGDH E2o subunits described to date contain a single lipoyl domain, as is also the case for the E2b GS-5816 msds chains of all BCDH complexes (9, 141, 143, 166). A generally applicable explanation for the variation in the number of lipoyl domains has not yet been worked out. Protein engineering experiments have eliminated the straightforward explanations. In E. coli PDH, selective deletion of one or two lipoyl domains has no detectable effect on the overall catalytic activity, the system of active site coupling or the ability to complement pyruvate dehydrogenase complex mutants (167). As expected the catalytic activity is abolished when all three lipoyl domains are deleted or when the lipoyl domains are rendered unlipoylatable by conversion of the lipoylated lysine residue to glutamine (167, 168). There is no mandatory order of reductive acetylation of the repeated lipoyl domains within E2p polypeptide chains because complexes containing mixtures of wild-type and mutant lipoyl domains (+/-; -/+; +/+/-) are fully active, although the complex containing the -/-/+ version of the E2p polypeptide chain showed a 50 reduction in specific activity (168). Activity is also impaired (but not abolished) by increasing the lipoyl domain content to four to nine per E2p chain, possibly due to under-lipoylation of the domains participating in catalysis and interference from unlipoylated domains (169). High-field NMR studies were carried out with variants containing zero to nine lipoyl domains per E2p subunit. These studies suggest an explanation for the presence of three lipoyl domains per E2p subunit in the wild-type PDH complex that is based on the greater inherent mobility and thus potentially more efficient active-site coupling of this arrangement (170). The superiority of the three lipoyl domainPDH complex has since been confirmed by physiological studies from which it was concluded that decreased lipoyl domain contents adversely affect growth rate and growth yield (171). The physiological consequences of increasing the number of lipoyl domains from three to nine per E2p chain, and the effects of inserting up to seven unlipoylatedCrotaline site Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptEcoSal Plus. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 January 06.CronanPage(mutant) domains between a wild-type N-terminal lipoyl domain and the E3-binding domain were also investigated and indicate that three lipoyl domains per E2p chain are optimal and that only the outermost lipoyl domain needs to be lipoylated to obtain full catalytic activity (172). It was concluded that the reason for retention of three lipoyl domains is to extend the reach of the outermost lipoyl cofactor rather than to provide extra cofactors for catalysis (172). However, given this advantage why then do many lipoylated proteins contain only a single lipoyl domain? The conserved structure of lipoyl domains (Fig. 8A) is directly related to catalytic functions of the domain in substrate channeling and active-site coupling. First of all, although free.E chain, characteristically rich in alanine, proline and charged amino acids that form flexible but extended linkers (143). The numbers of PDH lipoyl domains per E2 subunit varies from one to three. In the PDH complexes of Gram-negative bacteria, the number is usually three (e.g., E. coli and Azotobacter vinelandii) or two (e.g. Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, Alcaligenes eutrophus, and Thiobacillus ferrooxidans) (9). All of the 2-OGDH E2o subunits described to date contain a single lipoyl domain, as is also the case for the E2b chains of all BCDH complexes (9, 141, 143, 166). A generally applicable explanation for the variation in the number of lipoyl domains has not yet been worked out. Protein engineering experiments have eliminated the straightforward explanations. In E. coli PDH, selective deletion of one or two lipoyl domains has no detectable effect on the overall catalytic activity, the system of active site coupling or the ability to complement pyruvate dehydrogenase complex mutants (167). As expected the catalytic activity is abolished when all three lipoyl domains are deleted or when the lipoyl domains are rendered unlipoylatable by conversion of the lipoylated lysine residue to glutamine (167, 168). There is no mandatory order of reductive acetylation of the repeated lipoyl domains within E2p polypeptide chains because complexes containing mixtures of wild-type and mutant lipoyl domains (+/-; -/+; +/+/-) are fully active, although the complex containing the -/-/+ version of the E2p polypeptide chain showed a 50 reduction in specific activity (168). Activity is also impaired (but not abolished) by increasing the lipoyl domain content to four to nine per E2p chain, possibly due to under-lipoylation of the domains participating in catalysis and interference from unlipoylated domains (169). High-field NMR studies were carried out with variants containing zero to nine lipoyl domains per E2p subunit. These studies suggest an explanation for the presence of three lipoyl domains per E2p subunit in the wild-type PDH complex that is based on the greater inherent mobility and thus potentially more efficient active-site coupling of this arrangement (170). The superiority of the three lipoyl domainPDH complex has since been confirmed by physiological studies from which it was concluded that decreased lipoyl domain contents adversely affect growth rate and growth yield (171). The physiological consequences of increasing the number of lipoyl domains from three to nine per E2p chain, and the effects of inserting up to seven unlipoylatedAuthor Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptEcoSal Plus. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 January 06.CronanPage(mutant) domains between a wild-type N-terminal lipoyl domain and the E3-binding domain were also investigated and indicate that three lipoyl domains per E2p chain are optimal and that only the outermost lipoyl domain needs to be lipoylated to obtain full catalytic activity (172). It was concluded that the reason for retention of three lipoyl domains is to extend the reach of the outermost lipoyl cofactor rather than to provide extra cofactors for catalysis (172). However, given this advantage why then do many lipoylated proteins contain only a single lipoyl domain? The conserved structure of lipoyl domains (Fig. 8A) is directly related to catalytic functions of the domain in substrate channeling and active-site coupling. First of all, although free.