A pickup in pseudokinase activity

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 987-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arvin C. Dar

Kinases catalyse the phosphorylation of target substrates on hydroxy group-containing residues as a means to nucleate multi-component complexes or to stabilize unique conformational states. Through this biochemical activity, kinases play critical roles in many signal transduction and disease pathways. Pseudokinases constitute a subclass of these enzymes that were originally predicted as inactive on the basis of mutations of key conserved active-site residues. However, recent biochemical and structural analyses have revealed several enzymatically active pseudokinases, suggesting either that novel mechanisms of phosphorylation are at play or that the constraints for highly conserved active-site residues are looser than originally anticipated. The purpose of the present review is to summarize several of the active pseudokinases, and one in particular termed KSR (kinase suppressor of Ras), which was recently found to possess a kinase activity that can become accelerated through an allosteric mechanism. Utilization of catalytic activity or structural features of the kinase fold may be key to the function of many pseudokinases.

2016 ◽  
pp. 987-993
Author(s):  
A. BAUMLOVA ◽  
J. GREGOR ◽  
E. BOURA

PI4K IIα is a critical enzyme for the maintenance of Golgi and is also known to function in the synaptic vesicles. The product of its catalytical function, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P), is an important lipid molecule because it is a hallmark of the Golgi and TGN, is directly recognized by many proteins and also serves as a precursor molecule for synthesis of higher phosphoinositides. Here, we report crystal structures of PI4K IIα enzyme in the apo-state and inhibited by calcium. The apo-structure reveals a surprising rigidity of the active site residues important for catalytic activity. The structure of calcium inhibited kinase reveals how calcium locks ATP in the active site.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 569-569
Author(s):  
Oliver D. Hantschel ◽  
Florian Grebien ◽  
Ines Kaupe ◽  
Giulio Superti-Furga

Abstract We have recently shown that the SH2 domain stimulates c-Abl catalytic activity and substrate phosphorylation. This effect is exerted directly through the establishment of a tight SH2-kinase domain interface in the active conformation of c-Abl (Filippakopoulos et al. (2008) Cell, in press, scheduled to be published on September 5, 2008). Mutations in the SH2 domain that presumably disrupt this SH2-kinase domain interface, such as the Ile164Glu mutation, result in severe impairment of Abl catalytic activity. Thus, correct positioning of the SH2 and kinase domain modules appears to be critical for efficient activation of cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases. Here, we present data showing that the same structural coupling of the SH2 and kinase domain is also a critical factor for full activation of the oncogenic fusion kinase Bcr-Abl. A single point mutation in the SH2 domain (Ile164Glu) led to a dramatic reduction in Bcr-Abl in vitro tyrosine kinase activity and Bcr-Abl autophosphorylation, both on the activation loop (pTyr-412) and the SH2-kinase domain linker (pTyr-245). This resulted in a strong decrease in global cellular tyrosine phosphorylation, as well as decreased phosphorylation of critical downstream mediators of Bcr-Abl signaling. Both wildtype Bcr-Abl, as well as the Bcr-Abl Ile164Glu mutant were able to confer factor independent growth to Ba/F3- and UT-7 cell lines, although to a different extent. Detailed data on the properties of the Ile164Glu mutation in vitro, in imatinib inhibition assays, transformation assays and mouse bone marrow transplant models will be presented. We propose that the structural positioning of the SH2 domain is a crucial factor for constitutive activity, signal transduction and transforming capacity of Bcr-Abl. Besides oligomerization via the N-terminal coiled-coiled domain and loss of the auto-inhibitory N-terminal myristoyl group, the proper positioning of the SH2 domain appears to be another critical factor that is required for constitutive activation of Bcr- Abl, which is the prerequisite for its ability to induce chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Inhibitors of the SH2-kinase domain interface of Bcr-Abl may comprise alternative or additional points of pharmacological intervention for the treatment of imatinib-sensitive or -resistant CML or Ph+ acute lymphocytic leukemia.


2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 6084-6090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dandan He ◽  
Jiachi Chiou ◽  
Zhenling Zeng ◽  
Edward Wai-Chi Chan ◽  
Jian-Hua Liu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTClinical isolates producing hybrid CTX-M β-lactamases, presumably due to recombination between theblaCTX-M-15andblaCTX-M-14elements, have emerged in recent years. Among the hybrid enzymes, CTX-M-64 and CTX-M-14 display the most significant difference in catalytic activity. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms underlying such differential enzymatic activities in order to provide insight into the structure/function relationship of this class of enzymes. Sequence alignment analysis showed that the major differences between the amino acid composition of CTX-M-64 and CTX-M-14 lie at both the N and C termini of the enzymes. Single or multiple amino acid substitutions introduced into CTX-M-64 and CTX-M-14 were found to produce only minor effects on hydrolytic functions; such a finding is consistent with the notion that the discrepancy between the functional activities of the two enzymes is not the result of only a few amino acid changes but is attributable to interactions between a unique set of amino acid residues in each enzyme. This theory is supported by the results of the thermal stability assay, which confirmed that CTX-M-64 is significantly more stable than CTX-M-14. Our data confirmed that, in addition to the important residues located in the active site, residues distal to the active site also contribute to the catalytic activity of the enzyme through stabilizing its structural integrity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 506-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amaj A. Laskar ◽  
Danishuddin ◽  
Shaheer H. Khan ◽  
Naidu Subbarao ◽  
Hina Younus

Background: Lower human salivary aldehyde dehydrogenase (hsALDH) activity increases the risk of aldehyde mediated pathogenesis including oral cancer. Alliin, the bioactive compound of garlic, exhibits many beneficial health effects. Objective: To study the effect of alliin on hsALDH activity. Method: Enzyme kinetics was performed to study the effect of alliin on the activity of hsALDH. Different biophysical techniques were employed for structural and binding studies. Docking analysis was done to predict the binding region and the type of binding forces. Results: Alliin enhanced the dehydrogenase activity of the enzyme. It slightly reduced the Km and significantly enhanced the Vmax value. At 1 µM alliin concentration, the initial reaction rate increased by about two times. Further, it enhanced the hsALDH esterase activity. Biophysical studies indicated a strong complex formation between the enzyme and alliin (binding constant, Kb: 2.35 ± 0.14 x 103 M-1). It changes the secondary structure of hsALDH. Molecular docking study indicated that alliin interacts to the enzyme near the substrate binding region involving some active site residues that are evolutionary conserved. There was a slight increase in the nucleophilicity of active site cysteine in the presence of alliin. Ligand efficiency metrics values indicate that alliin is an efficient ligand for the enzyme. Conclusion: Alliin activates the catalytic activity of the enzyme. Hence, consumption of alliincontaining garlic preparations or alliin supplements and use of alliin in pure form may lower aldehyde related pathogenesis including oral carcinogenesis.


2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (9) ◽  
pp. 1609-1612 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.K. Morrison

Kinase Suppressor of Ras (KSR) is an intriguing component of the Ras pathway that was first identified by genetic studies performed in Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans. In both organisms, inactivating mutations in KSR suppress the phenotypic effects induced by activated Ras. These findings together with the fact that KSR contains many structural features characteristic of a protein kinase led to early speculation that KSR is a kinase functioning upstream of the Ras pathway component Raf-1 or in a parallel Ras-dependent pathway. However, in the six years since its discovery, KSR has been found to lack several key properties of known protein kinases, which has cast doubt on whether KSR is indeed a functional enzyme. A major breakthrough in our understanding of the role of KSR in signal transduction has come from recent findings that KSR interacts with several components of the MAP kinase cascade, including Raf-1, MEK1/2 and ERK1/2. The model now emerging is that KSR acts as a scaffolding protein that coordinates the assembly of a membrane-localized, multiprotein MAP kinase complex, a vital step in Ras-mediated signal transduction. Thus, while Kinase Suppressor of Ras may be its name, phosphorylation may not be its game.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 2441-2449
Author(s):  
Anwei Hou ◽  
Jeroen S Dickschat

The sesterterpene synthase SmTS1 from Streptomyces mobaraensis contains several unusual residues in positions that are otherwise highly conserved. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments for these residues are reported that showed different effects, resulting in some cases in an improved catalytic activity, but in other cases in a loss of enzyme function. For other enzyme variants a functional switch was observed, turning SmTS1 from a sesterterpene into a diterpene synthase. This article gives rational explanations for these findings that may generally allow for protein engineering of other terpene synthases to improve their catalytic efficiency or to change their functions.


eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Baier ◽  
Nansook Hong ◽  
Gloria Yang ◽  
Anna Pabis ◽  
Charlotte M Miton ◽  
...  

Genetic variation among orthologous proteins can cause cryptic phenotypic properties that only manifest in changing environments. Such variation may impact the evolvability of proteins, but the underlying molecular basis remains unclear. Here, we performed comparative directed evolution of four orthologous metallo-β-lactamases toward a new function and found that different starting genotypes evolved to distinct evolutionary outcomes. Despite a low initial fitness, one ortholog reached a significantly higher fitness plateau than its counterparts, via increasing catalytic activity. By contrast, the ortholog with the highest initial activity evolved to a less-optimal and phenotypically distinct outcome through changes in expression, oligomerization and activity. We show how cryptic molecular properties and conformational variation of active site residues in the initial genotypes cause epistasis, that could lead to distinct evolutionary outcomes. Our work highlights the importance of understanding the molecular details that connect genetic variation to protein function to improve the prediction of protein evolution.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document