Assembly and symmetry of the fungal E3BP-containing core of the Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex

Abstract

The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) is a central component of all aerobic respiration, connecting glycolysis to mitochondrial oxidation of pyruvate. Despite its central metabolic role, its precise composition and means of regulation remain unknown. To explain the variation in stoichiometry reported for the E3-recruiting protein X (PX) in the fungal PDC, we established cryo-EM reconstructions of the native and recombinant PDC from the filamentous fungus and model organism Neurospora crassa. We find that the PX C-terminal domain localizes interior to the E2 core. Critically, we show that two distinct arrangements of a trimeric oligomer exists, which both result in strict tetrahedral symmetry of the PDC core interior. Both oligomerization and volume occlusion of the PDC interior by PX appears to limit its binding stoichiometry, which explains the variety of stoichiometries found previously for S. cerevisiae. This also suggests that the PX oligomer stability and size are potential mechanisms to dynamically adjust PDC compostion in response to external cues. Moreover, we find that the site where PX binds is conserved within fungi but not mammals, suggesting that it could be therapeutically targeted. To this end, we also show that a PX knockout results in loss of activity through dysfunctional E3 recruitment, leading to severely impaired N. crassa growth on sucrose. The fungal PDC is thus shown to be fundamentally similar to the mammalian PDC in function but subject to other conditions of possible regulation, conditioned by a steric restrictions imposed by the symmetry of the PDC and its components.