scholarly journals Twitchin kinase inhibits muscle activity

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 1591-1600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yohei Matsunaga ◽  
Hyundoo Hwang ◽  
Barbara Franke ◽  
Rhys Williams ◽  
McKenna Penley ◽  
...  

Muscle sarcomeres contain giant polypeptides composed of multiple immunoglobulin and fibronectin domains and one or two protein kinase domains. Although binding partners for a number of this family’s kinase domains have been identified, the catalytic necessity of these kinase domains remains unknown. In addition, various members of this kinase family are suspected pseudokinases with no or little activity. Here we address catalytic necessity for the first time, using the prototypic invertebrate representative twitchin (UNC-22) from Caenorhabditis elegans. In in vitro experiments, change of a conserved lysine (K) that is involved in ATP coordination to alanine (A) resulted in elimination of kinase activity without affecting the overall structure of the kinase domain. The same mutation, unc-22(sf21), was generated in the endogenous twitchin gene. The unc-22(sf21) worms have well-organized sarcomeres. However, unc-22(sf21) mutants move faster than wild-type worms and, by optogenetic experiments, contract more. Wild-type nematodes exhibited greater competitive fitness than unc-22(sf21) mutants. Thus the catalytic activity of twitchin kinase has a role in vivo, where it inhibits muscle activity and is likely maintained by selection.

2011 ◽  
Vol 109 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen M Andres ◽  
Chengqun Huang ◽  
Eric P Ratliff ◽  
Genaro Hernandez ◽  
Pamela Lee ◽  
...  

Autophagy-dependent mitochondrial turnover in response to cellular stress is necessary for maintaining cellular homeostasis. However, the mechanisms that govern the selective targeting of damaged mitochondria are poorly understood. Parkin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, has been shown to be essential for the selective clearance of damaged mitochondria. Parkin is expressed in the heart, yet its function has not been investigated in the context of cardioprotection. We previously reported that autophagy is required for cardioprotection by ischemic preconditioning (IPC). In the present study, we used simulated ischemia in vitro and IPC in hearts (in vivo and ex vivo) to investigate the role of Parkin in mediating cardioprotection. In HL-1 cells, simulated ischemia induced Parkin translocation to mitochondria and mitochondrial elimination. Mitochondrial loss was blunted in Atg5-deficient cells, revealing the requirement for autophagy in mitochondrial elimination. Consistent with previous reports implicating p62/SQSTM1 in mitophagy, we found that downregulation of p62 attenuated mitophagy and exacerbated cell death in HL-1 cardiomyocytes subjected to simulated ischemia. While wild type mice showed p62 translocation to mitochondria after IPC, Parkin knockout mice exhibited attenuated translocation of p62 to mitochondria. Importantly, ablation of Parkin in mice abolished the cardioprotective effects of IPC. These results reveal for the first time the crucial role of Parkin and mitophagy in cardioprotection.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 1055-1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason S. Kerr ◽  
Catherine H. Wilson

Pseudokinases are a class of kinases which are structurally designated as lacking kinase activity. Despite the lack of kinase domain sequence conservation, there is increasing evidence that a number of pseudokinases retain kinase activity and/or have critical cellular functions, casting aside previous notions that pseudokinases simply exist as redundant kinases. Moreover, a number of recent studies have implicated pseudokinases as critical components in cancer formation and progression. The present review discusses the interactions and potential functions that nuclear receptor-binding protein 1, a pseudokinase recently described to have a tumour-suppressive role in cancer, may play in cellular homoeostasis and protein regulation. The recent findings highlighted in the present review emphasize the requirement to fully determine the function of pseudokinases in vitro and in vivo, the understanding of which may ultimately uncover new directions for drug discovery.


2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (23) ◽  
pp. 8049-8064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Muskus ◽  
Fabian Preuss ◽  
Jin-Yuan Fan ◽  
Edward S. Bjes ◽  
Jeffrey L. Price

ABSTRACT A mutation (K38R) which specifically eliminates kinase activity was created in the Drosophila melanogaster ckI gene (doubletime [dbt]). In vitro, DBT protein carrying the K38R mutation (DBTK/R) interacted with Period protein (PER) but lacked kinase activity. In cell culture and in flies, DBTK/R antagonized the phosphorylation and degradation of PER, and it damped the oscillation of PER in vivo. Overexpression of short-period, long-period, or wild-type DBT in flies produced the same circadian periods produced by the corresponding alleles of the endogenous gene. These mutations therefore dictate an altered “set point” for period length that is not altered by overexpression. Overexpression of the DBTK/R produced effects proportional to the titration of endogenous DBT, with long circadian periods at lower expression levels and arrhythmicity at higher levels. This first analysis of adult flies with a virtual lack of DBT activity demonstrates that DBT's kinase activity is necessary for normal circadian rhythms and that a general reduction of DBT kinase activity does not produce short periods.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 5409-5418 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Mischak ◽  
T Seitz ◽  
P Janosch ◽  
M Eulitz ◽  
H Steen ◽  
...  

The elevation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels in the cell downregulates the activity of the Raf-1 kinase. It has been suggested that this effect is due to the activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), which can directly phosphorylate Raf-1 in vitro. In this study, we confirmed this hypothesis by coexpressing Raf-1 with the constitutively active catalytic subunit of PKA, which could fully reproduce the inhibition previously achieved by cAMP. PKA-phosphorylated Raf-1 exhibits a reduced affinity for GTP-loaded Ras as well as impaired catalytic activity. As the binding to GTP-loaded Ras induces Raf-1 activation in the cell, we examined which mechanism is required for PKA-mediated Raf-1 inhibition in vivo. A Raf-1 point mutant (RafR89L), which is unable to bind Ras, as well as the isolated Raf-1 kinase domain were still fully susceptible to inhibition by PKA, demonstrating that the phosphorylation of the Raf-1 kinase suffices for inhibition. By the use of mass spectroscopy and point mutants, PKA phosphorylation site was mapped to a single site in the Raf-1 kinase domain, serine 621. Replacement of serine 621 by alanine or cysteine or destruction of the PKA consensus motif by changing arginine 618 resulted in the loss of catalytic activity. Notably, a mutation of serine 619 to alanine did not significantly affect kinase activity or regulation by activators or PKA. Changing serine 621 to aspartic acid yielded a Raf-1 protein which, when expressed to high levels in Sf-9 insect cells, retained a very low inducible kinase activity that was resistant to PKA downregulation. The purified Raf-1 kinase domain displayed slow autophosphorylation of serine 621, which correlated with a decrease in catalytic function. The Raf-1 kinase domain activated by tyrosine phosphorylation could be downregulated by PKA. Specific removal of the phosphate residue at serine 621 reactivated the catalytic activity. These results are most consistent with a dual role of serine 621. On the one hand, serine 621 appears essential for catalytic activity; on the other hand, it serves as a phosphorylation site which confers negative regulation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (5) ◽  
pp. E879-E886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Castañeda-Bueno ◽  
Juan Pablo Arroyo ◽  
Junhui Zhang ◽  
Jeremy Puthumana ◽  
Orlando Yarborough ◽  
...  

With-no-lysine kinase 4 (WNK4) regulates electrolyte homeostasis and blood pressure. WNK4 phosphorylates the kinases SPAK (Ste20-related proline alanine-rich kinase) and OSR1 (oxidative stress responsive kinase), which then phosphorylate and activate the renal Na-Cl cotransporter (NCC). WNK4 levels are regulated by binding to Kelch-like 3, targeting WNK4 for ubiquitylation and degradation. Phosphorylation of Kelch-like 3 by PKC or PKA downstream of AngII or vasopressin signaling, respectively, abrogates binding. We tested whether these pathways also affect WNK4 phosphorylation and activity. By tandem mass spectrometry and use of phosphosite-specific antibodies, we identified five WNK4 sites (S47, S64, S1169, S1180, S1196) that are phosphorylated downstream of AngII signaling in cultured cells and in vitro by PKC and PKA. Phosphorylation at S64 and S1196 promoted phosphorylation of the WNK4 kinase T-loop at S332, which is required for kinase activation, and increased phosphorylation of SPAK. Volume depletion induced phosphorylation of these sites in vivo, predominantly in the distal convoluted tubule. Thus, AngII, in addition to increasing WNK4 levels, also modulates WNK4 kinase activity via phosphorylation of sites outside the kinase domain.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1675-1685 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Atherton-Fessler ◽  
L L Parker ◽  
R L Geahlen ◽  
H Piwnica-Worms

The kinase activity of human p34cdc2 is negatively regulated by phosphorylation at Thr-14 and Tyr-15. These residues lie within the putative nucleotide binding domain of p34cdc2. It has been proposed that phosphorylation within this motif ablates the binding of ATP to the active site of p34cdc2, thereby inhibiting p34cdc2 kinase activity (K. Gould and P. Nurse, Nature [London] 342:39-44, 1989). To understand the mechanism of this inactivation, various forms of p34cdc2 were tested for the ability to bind nucleotide. The active site of p34cdc2 was specifically modified by the MgATP analog 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine (FSBA). The apparent Km for modification of wild-type, monomeric p34cdc2 was 148 microM FSBA and was not significantly affected by association with cyclin B. Tyrosine-phosphorylated p34cdc2 was modified by FSBA with a slightly higher Km (241 microM FSBA). FSBA modification of both tyrosine-phosphorylated and unphosphorylated p34cdc2 was competitively inhibited by ATP, and half-maximal inhibition in each case occurred at approximately 250 microM ATP. In addition to being negatively regulated by phosphorylation, the kinase activity of p34cdc2 was positively regulated by the cyclin-dependent phosphorylation of Thr-161. Mutation of p34cdc2 at Thr-161 resulted in the formation of an enzymatically inactive p34cdc2/cyclin B complex both in vivo and in vitro. However, mutation of Thr-161 did not significantly affect the ability of p34cdc2 to bind nucleotide (FSBA). Taken together, these results indicate that inhibition of p34cdc2 kinase activity by phosphorylation of Tyr-15 (within the putative ATP binding domain) or by mutation of Thr-161 involves a mechanism other than inhibition of nucleotide binding. We propose instead that the defect resides at the level of catalysis.


Author(s):  
Xi Zhang ◽  
Hui Xu ◽  
Xiaoyang Bi ◽  
Guoqing Hou ◽  
Andong Liu ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose: Identification of accurate targets is essential for a successful development of targeted therapy in cancer. Studies have shown that matrine has antitumor activity against many types of cancers. However, the direct target in cancer cells of its anticancer effect has not been identified. The purpose of this study was to find the molecular target of matrine to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells and explore its mechanism of action. Experimental Approach: The effect of matrine on the proliferation of cancer cells were examined by MTT assay. Pull-down assay and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were performed to explore the target of matrine. A series of in vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to reveal the mechanisms by which matrine targeted Src to regulate the downstream signaling pathways of Src in cancer cells. Key Results: Herein we showed that matrine inhibited the proliferation of cancer in vitro and in vivo. Pull-down assay with matrine-amino coupling resins (MA beads) and LC-MS/MS identified Src as the target of matrine. Src kinase domain is required for its interaction with matrine and Ala392 in the kinase domain participated in matrine-Src interaction. Intriguingly, matrine was proven to inhibit Src kinase activity in a non-ATP-competitive manner by blocking the autophosphorylation of Tyr419. Matrine down-regulated the phosphorylation levels of MAPK/ERK, JAK2/STAT3 and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. Conclusions and Implications: Collectively, matrine targeted Src, inhibited kinase activity and down-regulated its downstream MAPK/ERK, JAK2/STAT3 and PI3K/Akt phosphorylation signaling pathways to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells.


Author(s):  
Kaijiang Xia ◽  
Fang Zhu ◽  
Chengkui Yang ◽  
Shuwei Wu ◽  
Yu Lin ◽  
...  

Necroptosis is a form of regulated necrosis that requires the activation of receptor-interacting kinase 3 (RIPK3 or RIP3) and its phosphorylation of the substrate MLKL (mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein). Necroptosis has emerged as important cell death involved in the pathogenesis of various diseases including inflammatory diseases, degenerative diseases, and cancer. Here, we discovered a small molecule Zharp-99 as a potent inhibitor of necroptosis through blocking the kinase activity of RIPK3. Zharp-99 efficiently blocks necroptosis induced by ligands of the death receptor and Toll-like receptor as well as viral infection in human, rat and mouse cells. Zharp-99 strongly inhibits cellular activation of RIPK3, and MLKL upon necroptosis stimuli. Zharp-99 directly blocks the kinase activity of RIPK3 without affecting RIPK1 kinase activity at the tested concentration. Importantly, Zharp-99 exerts effective protection against TNF-α induced systemic inflammatory response syndrome in the mouse model. Zharp-99 displays favorable in vitro safety profiles and in vivo pharmacokinetic parameters. Thus, our study demonstrates Zharp-99 as a potent inhibitor of RIPK3 kinase and also highlights its potential for further development of new approaches for treating necroptosis-associated inflammatory disorders.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1675-1685
Author(s):  
S Atherton-Fessler ◽  
L L Parker ◽  
R L Geahlen ◽  
H Piwnica-Worms

The kinase activity of human p34cdc2 is negatively regulated by phosphorylation at Thr-14 and Tyr-15. These residues lie within the putative nucleotide binding domain of p34cdc2. It has been proposed that phosphorylation within this motif ablates the binding of ATP to the active site of p34cdc2, thereby inhibiting p34cdc2 kinase activity (K. Gould and P. Nurse, Nature [London] 342:39-44, 1989). To understand the mechanism of this inactivation, various forms of p34cdc2 were tested for the ability to bind nucleotide. The active site of p34cdc2 was specifically modified by the MgATP analog 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine (FSBA). The apparent Km for modification of wild-type, monomeric p34cdc2 was 148 microM FSBA and was not significantly affected by association with cyclin B. Tyrosine-phosphorylated p34cdc2 was modified by FSBA with a slightly higher Km (241 microM FSBA). FSBA modification of both tyrosine-phosphorylated and unphosphorylated p34cdc2 was competitively inhibited by ATP, and half-maximal inhibition in each case occurred at approximately 250 microM ATP. In addition to being negatively regulated by phosphorylation, the kinase activity of p34cdc2 was positively regulated by the cyclin-dependent phosphorylation of Thr-161. Mutation of p34cdc2 at Thr-161 resulted in the formation of an enzymatically inactive p34cdc2/cyclin B complex both in vivo and in vitro. However, mutation of Thr-161 did not significantly affect the ability of p34cdc2 to bind nucleotide (FSBA). Taken together, these results indicate that inhibition of p34cdc2 kinase activity by phosphorylation of Tyr-15 (within the putative ATP binding domain) or by mutation of Thr-161 involves a mechanism other than inhibition of nucleotide binding. We propose instead that the defect resides at the level of catalysis.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 5679-5687 ◽  
Author(s):  
C P Chang ◽  
Y Jacobs ◽  
T Nakamura ◽  
N A Jenkins ◽  
N G Copeland ◽  
...  

The Pbx1 and Meis1 proto-oncogenes code for divergent homeodomain proteins that are targets for oncogenic mutations in human and murine leukemias, respectively, and implicated by genetic analyses to functionally collaborate with Hox proteins during embryonic development and/or oncogenesis. Although Pbx proteins have been shown to dimerize with Hox proteins and modulate their DNA binding properties in vitro, the biochemical compositions of endogenous Pbx-containing complexes have not been determined. In the present study, we demonstrate that Pbx and Meis proteins form abundant complexes that comprise a major Pbx-containing DNA binding activity in nuclear extracts of cultured cells and mouse embryos. Pbx1 and Meis1 dimerize in solution and cooperatively bind bipartite DNA sequences consisting of directly adjacent Pbx and Meis half sites. Pbx1-Meis1 heterodimers display distinctive DNA binding specificities and cross-bind to a subset of Pbx-Hox sites, including those previously implicated as response elements for the execution of Pbx-dependent Hox programs in vivo. Chimeric oncoprotein E2a-Pbx1 is unable to bind DNA with Meis1, due to the deletion of amino-terminal Pbx1 sequences following fusion with E2a. We conclude that Meis proteins are preferred in vivo DNA binding partners for wild-type Pbx1, a relationship that is circumvented by its oncogenic counterpart E2a-Pbx1.


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