The ras Superfamily: Post-Translational Modifications and Functional Regulation

Author(s):  
Anthony I. Magee ◽  
John F. Hancock ◽  
Erica Fawell ◽  
Thomas Giannakouros ◽  
Christopher M. H. Newman ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natsuki Osaka ◽  
Yoshihisa Hirota ◽  
Doshun Ito ◽  
Yoshiki Ikeda ◽  
Ryo Kamata ◽  
...  

RAS is a founding member of the RAS superfamily of GTPases. These small 21 kDa proteins function as molecular switches to initialize signaling cascades involved in various cellular processes, including gene expression, cell growth, and differentiation. RAS is activated by GTP loading and deactivated upon GTP hydrolysis to GDP. Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) accelerate GTP loading and hydrolysis, respectively. These accessory proteins play a fundamental role in regulating activities of RAS superfamily small GTPase via a conserved guanine binding (G)-domain, which consists of five G motifs. The Switch regions lie within or proximal to the G2 and G3 motifs, and undergo dynamic conformational changes between the GDP-bound “OFF” state and GTP-bound “ON” state. They play an important role in the recognition of regulatory factors (GEFs and GAPs) and effectors. The G4 and G5 motifs are the focus of the present work and lie outside Switch regions. These motifs are responsible for the recognition of the guanine moiety in GTP and GDP, and contain residues that undergo post-translational modifications that underlie new mechanisms of RAS regulation. Post-translational modification within the G4 and G5 motifs activates RAS by populating the GTP-bound “ON” state, either through enhancement of intrinsic guanine nucleotide exchange or impairing GAP-mediated down-regulation. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of post-translational modifications in the RAS G4 and G5 motifs, and describe the role of these modifications in RAS activation as well as potential applications for cancer therapy.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 541-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panagiotis A. Konstantinopoulos ◽  
Michalis V. Karamouzis ◽  
Athanasios G. Papavassiliou

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barkha Ravi ◽  
Poonam Kanwar ◽  
Sibaji K. Sanyal ◽  
Malathi Bheri ◽  
Girdhar K. Pandey

The voltage-dependent anion channels (VDACs) are the most abundant proteins present on the outer mitochondrial membrane. They serve a myriad of functions ranging from energy and metabolite exchange to highly debatable roles in apoptosis. Their role in molecular transport puts them on the center stage as communicators between cytoplasmic and mitochondrial signaling events. Beyond their general role as interchangeable pores, members of this family may exhibit specific functions. Even after nearly five decades of their discovery, their role in plant systems is still a new and rapidly emerging field. The information on biochemical regulation of VDACs is limited. Various interacting proteins and post-translational modifications (PTMs) modulate VDAC functions, amongst these, phosphorylation is quite noticeable. In this review, we have tried to give a glimpse of the recent advancements in the biochemical/interactional regulation of plant VDACs. We also cover a critical analysis on the importance of PTMs in the functional regulation of VDACs. Besides, the review also encompasses numerous studies which can identify VDACs as a connecting link between Ca2+ and reactive oxygen species signaling in special reference to the plant systems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 477 (7) ◽  
pp. 1219-1225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolai N. Sluchanko

Many major protein–protein interaction networks are maintained by ‘hub’ proteins with multiple binding partners, where interactions are often facilitated by intrinsically disordered protein regions that undergo post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation. Phosphorylation can directly affect protein function and control recognition by proteins that ‘read’ the phosphorylation code, re-wiring the interactome. The eukaryotic 14-3-3 proteins recognizing multiple phosphoproteins nicely exemplify these concepts. Although recent studies established the biochemical and structural basis for the interaction of the 14-3-3 dimers with several phosphorylated clients, understanding their assembly with partners phosphorylated at multiple sites represents a challenge. Suboptimal sequence context around the phosphorylated residue may reduce binding affinity, resulting in quantitative differences for distinct phosphorylation sites, making hierarchy and priority in their binding rather uncertain. Recently, Stevers et al. [Biochemical Journal (2017) 474: 1273–1287] undertook a remarkable attempt to untangle the mechanism of 14-3-3 dimer binding to leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) that contains multiple candidate 14-3-3-binding sites and is mutated in Parkinson's disease. By using the protein-peptide binding approach, the authors systematically analyzed affinities for a set of LRRK2 phosphopeptides, alone or in combination, to a 14-3-3 protein and determined crystal structures for 14-3-3 complexes with selected phosphopeptides. This study addresses a long-standing question in the 14-3-3 biology, unearthing a range of important details that are relevant for understanding binding mechanisms of other polyvalent proteins.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Christian Sibbersen ◽  
Mogens Johannsen

Abstract In living systems, nucleophilic amino acid residues are prone to non-enzymatic post-translational modification by electrophiles. α-Dicarbonyl compounds are a special type of electrophiles that can react irreversibly with lysine, arginine, and cysteine residues via complex mechanisms to form post-translational modifications known as advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). Glyoxal, methylglyoxal, and 3-deoxyglucosone are the major endogenous dicarbonyls, with methylglyoxal being the most well-studied. There are several routes that lead to the formation of dicarbonyl compounds, most originating from glucose and glucose metabolism, such as the non-enzymatic decomposition of glycolytic intermediates and fructosyl amines. Although dicarbonyls are removed continuously mainly via the glyoxalase system, several conditions lead to an increase in dicarbonyl concentration and thereby AGE formation. AGEs have been implicated in diabetes and aging-related diseases, and for this reason the elucidation of their structure as well as protein targets is of great interest. Though the dicarbonyls and reactive protein side chains are of relatively simple nature, the structures of the adducts as well as their mechanism of formation are not that trivial. Furthermore, detection of sites of modification can be demanding and current best practices rely on either direct mass spectrometry or various methods of enrichment based on antibodies or click chemistry followed by mass spectrometry. Future research into the structure of these adducts and protein targets of dicarbonyl compounds may improve the understanding of how the mechanisms of diabetes and aging-related physiological damage occur.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Elizabeth Smith ◽  
Adelina Rogowska-Wrzesinska

Abstract Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are integral to the regulation of protein function, characterising their role in this process is vital to understanding how cells work in both healthy and diseased states. Mass spectrometry (MS) facilitates the mass determination and sequencing of peptides, and thereby also the detection of site-specific PTMs. However, numerous challenges in this field continue to persist. The diverse chemical properties, low abundance, labile nature and instability of many PTMs, in combination with the more practical issues of compatibility with MS and bioinformatics challenges, contribute to the arduous nature of their analysis. In this review, we present an overview of the established MS-based approaches for analysing PTMs and the common complications associated with their investigation, including examples of specific challenges focusing on phosphorylation, lysine acetylation and redox modifications.


1993 ◽  
Vol 70 (03) ◽  
pp. 500-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Wyler ◽  
L Daviet ◽  
H Bortkiewicz ◽  
J-C Bordet ◽  
J L McGregor

SummaryGlycoprotein CD36, also known as GPIIIb or GPIV, is a major platelet glycoprotein that bears the newly identified Naka alloantigen. The aim of this study was to clone platelet CD36 and investigate other forms of CD36-cDNA present in monocytes, endothelial and HEL cells. RNA from above mentioned cells were reverse transcribed (RT), using specific primers for CD36, and amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Sequencing the different amplified platelet derived cDNA fragments, spanning the whole coding and flanking regions, showed the near identity between platelet and CD36-placenta cDNA. Platelet CD36-cDNA cross-hybridized, in Southern blots, with RT-PCR amplified cDNA originating from monocytes, endothelial and HEL cells. However, monocytes showed a RT-PCR amplified cDNA fragment (561 bp) that was present in platelets and placenta but not on endothelial on HEL-cells. Northern blot analysis of platelet RNA hybridized with placenta CD36 indicated the presence of a major (1.95 kb) and a minor (0.95 kb) transcript. The 1.95 kb transcript was the only one observed on Northern blots of monocytes, endothelial and HEL cells. These results indicate that the structure of CD36 expressed in platelets is similar, with the exception of the 3’ flanking region, to that of placenta. Differences in apparent molecular weight between CD36 and CD36-like glycoproteins may be due to post-translational modifications.


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