Substantial conformational change mediated by charge-triad residues of the death effector domain in protein-protein interactions

Edward C. Twomey, Dana F. Cordasco, Stephen D. Kozuch, Yufeng Wei

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Protein conformational changes are commonly associated with the formation of protein complexes. The non-catalytic death effector domains (DEDs) mediate protein-protein interactions in a variety of cellular processes, including apoptosis, proliferation and migration, and glucose metabolism. Here, using NMR residual dipolar coupling (RDC) data, we report a conformational change in the DED of the phosphoprotein enriched in astrocytes, 15 kDa (PEA-15) protein in the complex with a mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, extracellular regulated kinase 2 (ERK2), which is essential in regulating ERK2 cellular distribution and function in cell proliferation and migration. The most significant conformational change in PEA-15 happens at helices α2, α3, and α4, which also possess the highest flexibility among the six-helix bundle of the DED. This crucial conformational change is modulated by the D/E-RxDL charge-triad motif, one of the prominent structural features of DEDs, together with a number of other electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions on the protein surface. Charge-triad motif promotes the optimal orientation of key residues and expands the binding interface to accommodate protein-protein interactions. However, the charge-triad residues are not directly involved in the binding interface between PEA-15 and ERK2.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere83421
JournalPloS one
Volume8
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 31 2013
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
  • General

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