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Sequences and structures of all P-loop-fold proteins were compared with the aim of reconstructing the principal events in the evolution of P-loop-containing kinases. It is shown that kinases and some related proteins comprise a monophyletic assemblage within the P-loop NTPase fold. An evolutionary classification of these proteins was developed using standard phylogenetic methods, analysis of shared sequence and structural signatures, and similarity-based clustering. This analysis resulted in the identification of approximately 40 distinct protein families within the P-loop kinase class. Most of these enzymes phosphorylate nucleosides and nucleotides, as well as sugars, coenzyme precursors, adenosine 5′-phosphosulfate and polynucleotides. In addition, the class includes sulfotransferases, amide bond ligases, pyrimidine and dihydrofolate reductases, and several other families of enzymes that have acquired new catalytic capabilities distinct from the ancestral kinase reaction. Our reconstruction of the early history of the P-loop NTPase fold includes the initial split into the common ancestor of the kinase and the GTPase classes, and the common ancestor of ATPases. This was followed by the divergence of the kinases, which primarily phosphorylated nucleoside monophosphates (NMP), but could have had broader specificity. We provide evidence for the presence of at least two to four distinct P-loop kinases, including distinct forms specific for dNMP and rNMP, and related enzymes in the last universal common ancestor of all extant life forms. Subsequent evolution of kinases seems to have been dominated by the emergence of new bacterial and, to a lesser extent, archaeal families. Some of these enzymes retained their kinase activity but evolved new substrate specificities, whereas others acquired new activities, such as sulfate transfer and reduction. Eukaryotes appear to have acquired most of their kinases via horizontal gene transfer from Bacteria, partly from the mitochondrial and chloroplast endosymbionts and partly at later stages of evolution. A distinct superfamily of kinases, which we designated DxTN after its sequence signature, appears to have evolved in selfish replicons, such as bacteriophages, and was subsequently widely recruited by eukaryotes for multiple functions related to nucleic acid processing and general metabolism. In the course of this analysis, several previously undetected groups of predicted kinases were identified, including widespread archaeo-eukaryotic and archaeal families. The results could serve as a framework for systematic experimental characterization of new biochemical and biological functions of kinases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The potent activity exhibited by the antitumoral camptothecin (CPT) and its analog irinotecan (CPT-11) is known to be related to a close contact between the drug and the nucleic acid base guanine. This specificity of interaction between these two chromophores was examined by following changes in the photophysical properties of the drug using steady-state as well as time-resolved absorption and fluorescence methods. The observed effects on absorption, fluorescence emission and singlet excited state lifetimes give evidence for the occurrence of a stacking complex formation restricted to the quinoline part of CPT or CPT-11 and the guanine base but also with the adenine base. The triplet excited state properties of the drugs have been also characterized in absence and in presence of guanosine monophosphate and reveal the occurrence of an electron transfer from the guanine base to the drug. Support for this conclusion was obtained from the studies of a set of biological targets of various oxido-reduction potentials, adenosine monophosphate, cytidine, cytosine, tryptophan, tyrosine and phenylalanine. This finding gives an interpretation of the CPT-induced guanine photolesions previously reported in the literature.These data taken together are discussed in connection with the drug activity. The stacking complex CPT/guanine is necessary but not sufficient to explain the role of the chirality and of the lactone structure in the function of the drug. A stereospecific interaction with the enzyme topoisomerase I seems necessary to stabilize the stacking complex. The first experiments using time-resolved fluorescence by two-photon excitation confirms that CPT does not bind to the isolated enzyme. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]