scholarly journals An Inherent Structural Difference Between Serine and Threonine Phosphorylation: Phosphothreonine Prefers an Ordered, Compact, Cyclic Conformation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anil K. Pandey ◽  
Himal K. Ganguly ◽  
Sudipta Kumar Sinha ◽  
Kelly E. Daniels ◽  
Glenn P. A. Yap ◽  
...  

AbstractPhosphorylation and dephosphorylation of proteins by kinases and phosphatases are central to cellular responses and function. The structural effects of serine and threonine phosphorylation were examined in peptides and in proteins, by circular dichroism, NMR spectroscopy, bioinformatics analysis of the PDB, small-molecule X-ray crystallography, and computational investigations. Phosphorylation of both serine and threonine residues induces substantial conformational restriction in their physiologically more important dianionic forms. Threonine exhibits a particularly strong disorder-to-order transition upon phosphorylation, with dianionic phosphothreonine preferentially adopting a cyclic conformation with restricted ϕ (ϕ ∼ –60°) stabilized by three noncovalent interactions: a strong intraresidue phosphate-amide hydrogen bond, an n→π* interaction between consecutive carbonyls, and an n→σ* interaction between the phosphate Oγ lone pair and the antibonding orbital of C–Hβ that restricts the χ2 side chain conformation. Proline is unique among the canonical amino acids for its covalent cyclization on the backbone. Phosphothreonine can mimic proline’s backbone cyclization via noncovalent interactions. The preferred torsions of dianionic phosphothreonine are ϕ,ψ = polyproline helix or α-helix (ϕ ∼ –60°); χ1 = g−; χ2 = eclipsed C–H/O–P bonds. This structural signature is observed in diverse proteins, including the activation loops of protein kinases and protein-protein interactions. In total, these results suggest a structural basis for the differential use and evolution of threonine versus serine phosphorylation sites in proteins, with serine phosphorylation typically inducing smaller, rheostat-like changes, versus threonine phosphorylation promoting larger, step function-like switches, in proteins.

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (26) ◽  
pp. 7960-7965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prakash B. Palde ◽  
Kate S. Carroll

Cysteine residues in cytosolic proteins are maintained in their reduced state, but can undergo oxidation owing to posttranslational modification during redox signaling or under conditions of oxidative stress. In large part, the reduction of oxidized protein cysteines is mediated by a small 12-kDa thiol oxidoreductase, thioredoxin (Trx). Trx provides reducing equivalents for central metabolic enzymes and is implicated in redox regulation of a wide number of target proteins, including transcription factors. Despite its importance in cellular redox homeostasis, the precise mechanism by which Trx recognizes target proteins, especially in the absence of any apparent signature binding sequence or motif, remains unknown. Knowledge of the forces associated with the molecular recognition that governs Trx–protein interactions is fundamental to our understanding of target specificity. To gain insight into Trx–target recognition, we have thermodynamically characterized the noncovalent interactions between Trx and target proteins before S-S reduction using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Our findings indicate that Trx recognizes the oxidized form of its target proteins with exquisite selectivity, compared with their reduced counterparts. Furthermore, we show that recognition is dependent on the conformational restriction inherent to oxidized targets. Significantly, the thermodynamic signatures for multiple Trx targets reveal favorable entropic contributions as the major recognition force dictating these protein–protein interactions. Taken together, our data afford significant new insight into the molecular forces responsible for Trx–target recognition and should aid the design of new strategies for thiol oxidoreductase inhibition.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Léonie Cussol ◽  
Laura Mauran‐Ambrosino ◽  
Jérémie Buratto ◽  
Anna Y Belorusova ◽  
Maxime Neuville ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (10) ◽  
pp. 1347-1359 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Luz ◽  
Anne P. Beigneux ◽  
DeeAnn K. Asamoto ◽  
Cuiwen He ◽  
Wenxin Song ◽  
...  

For three decades, the LPL–specific monoclonal antibody 5D2 has been used to investigate LPL structure/function and intravascular lipolysis. 5D2 has been used to measure LPL levels, block the triglyceride hydrolase activity of LPL, and prevent the propensity of concentrated LPL preparations to form homodimers. Two early studies on the location of the 5D2 epitope reached conflicting conclusions, but the more convincing report suggested that 5D2 binds to a tryptophan (Trp)-rich loop in the carboxyl terminus of LPL. The same loop had been implicated in lipoprotein binding. Using surface plasmon resonance, we showed that 5D2 binds with high affinity to a synthetic LPL peptide containing the Trp-rich loop of human (but not mouse) LPL. We also showed, by both fluorescence and UV resonance Raman spectroscopy, that the Trp-rich loop binds lipids. Finally, we used X-ray crystallography to solve the structure of the Trp-rich peptide bound to a 5D2 Fab fragment. The Trp-rich peptide contains a short α-helix, with two Trps projecting into the antigen recognition site. A proline substitution in the α-helix, found in mouse LPL, is expected to interfere with several hydrogen bonds, explaining why 5D2 cannot bind to mouse LPL.


Author(s):  
Léonie Cussol ◽  
Laura Mauran‐Ambrosino ◽  
Jérémie Buratto ◽  
Anna Y Belorusova ◽  
Maxime Neuville ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 855-882
Author(s):  
Olivia Slater ◽  
Bethany Miller ◽  
Maria Kontoyianni

Drug discovery has focused on the paradigm “one drug, one target” for a long time. However, small molecules can act at multiple macromolecular targets, which serves as the basis for drug repurposing. In an effort to expand the target space, and given advances in X-ray crystallography, protein-protein interactions have become an emerging focus area of drug discovery enterprises. Proteins interact with other biomolecules and it is this intricate network of interactions that determines the behavior of the system and its biological processes. In this review, we briefly discuss networks in disease, followed by computational methods for protein-protein complex prediction. Computational methodologies and techniques employed towards objectives such as protein-protein docking, protein-protein interactions, and interface predictions are described extensively. Docking aims at producing a complex between proteins, while interface predictions identify a subset of residues on one protein that could interact with a partner, and protein-protein interaction sites address whether two proteins interact. In addition, approaches to predict hot spots and binding sites are presented along with a representative example of our internal project on the chemokine CXC receptor 3 B-isoform and predictive modeling with IP10 and PF4.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongshuang Wang ◽  
Robert S. Dawber ◽  
Peiyu Zhang ◽  
Martin Walko ◽  
Andrew J. Wilson ◽  
...  

This review summarizes the influence of inserting constraints on biophysical, conformational, structural and cellular behaviour for peptides targeting α-helix mediated protein–protein interactions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane Baeriswyl ◽  
Hippolyte Personne ◽  
Ivan Di Bonaventura ◽  
Thilo Köhler ◽  
Christian van Delden ◽  
...  

We report the first X-ray crystal structures of mixed chirality α-helices comprising only natural residues as the example of bicyclic and linear membrane disruptive amphiphilic antimicrobial peptides containing seven l- and four d-residues.


2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (18) ◽  
pp. 5200-5203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun Hee Cho ◽  
Richard I. Gumport ◽  
Jeffrey F. Gardner

ABSTRACT Bacteriophage lambda site-specific recombination comprises two overall reactions, integration into and excision from the host chromosome. Lambda integrase (Int) carries out both reactions. During excision, excisionase (Xis) helps Int to bind DNA and introduces a bend in the DNA that facilitates formation of the proper excisive nucleoprotein complex. The carboxyl-terminal α-helix of Xis is thought to interact with Int through direct protein-protein interactions. In this study, we used gel mobility shift assays to show that the amino-terminal domain of Int maintained cooperative interactions with Xis. This finding indicates that the amino-terminal arm-type DNA binding domain of Int interacts with Xis.


2005 ◽  
Vol 385 (3) ◽  
pp. 715-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. LLOYD ◽  
Richard L. PEDERICK ◽  
Ramanathan NATESH ◽  
L. W. Lawrence WOO ◽  
Atul PUROHIT ◽  
...  

CA (carbonic anhydrase) catalyses the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide into bicarbonate, and at least 14 isoforms have been identified in vertebrates. The role of CA type II in maintaining the fluid and pH balance has made it an attractive drug target for the treatment of glaucoma and cancer. 667-Coumate is a potent inhibitor of the novel oncology target steroid sulphatase and is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials for hormone-dependent breast cancer. It also inhibits CA II in vitro. In the present study, CA II was crystallized with 667-coumate and the structure was determined by X-ray crystallography at 1.95 Å (1 Å=0.1 nm) resolution. The structure reported here is the first for an inhibitor based on a coumarin ring and shows ligation of the sulphamate group to the active-site zinc at 2.15 Å through a nitrogen anion. The first two rings of the coumarin moiety are bound within the hydrophobic binding site of CA II. Important residues contributing to binding include Val-121, Phe-131, Val-135, Leu-141, Leu-198 and Pro-202. The third seven-membered ring is more mobile and is located in the channel leading to the surface of the enzyme. Pharmacokinetic studies show enhanced stability of 667-coumate in vivo and this has been ascribed to binding of CA II in erythrocytes. This result provides a structural basis for the stabilization and long half-life of 667-coumate in blood compared with its rapid disappearance in plasma, and suggests that reversible binding of inhibitors to CA may be a general method of delivering this type of labile drug.


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