Charge-induced molecular alignment of intrinsically disordered proteins.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Min-Kyu Cho.
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Autoinhibition is a recurring mode of protein kinase regulation and can be based on diverse molecular mechanisms. Here, we show by crystal structure analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based nucleotide affinity studies and rational mutagenesis that nonphosphorylated mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases interacting kinase (Mnk) 1 is autoinhibited by conversion of the activation segment into an autoinhibitory module. In a Mnk1 crystal structure, the activation segment is repositioned via a Mnk-specific sequence insertion at the N-terminal lobe with the following consequences: (i) the peptide substrate binding site is deconstructed, (ii) the interlobal cleft is narrowed, (iii) an essential Lys-Glu pair is disrupted and (iv) the magnesium-binding loop is locked into an ATP-competitive conformation. Consistently, deletion of the Mnk-specific insertion or removal of a conserved phenylalanine side chain, which induces a blockade of the ATP pocket, increase the ATP affinity of Mnk1. Structural rearrangements required for the activation of Mnks are apparent from the cocrystal structure of a Mnk2 D228G -staurosporine complex and can be modeled on the basis of crystal packing interactions. Our data suggest a novel regulatory mechanism specific for the Mnk subfamily.
The MC3R and MC4R proteins comprise two melanocortin receptor subtypes that are involved in obesity, with each protein displaying a unique mechanism of action. To enable the design of a selective drug candidate, the solution structures of four peptidyl analogues of the melanocyte stimulating hormones, NDP-MSH, NDP-MSH(4-10) and two cyclic forms ([C5,C10]NDP-MSH(5-10), [C5,C10]NDP-MSH(5-11)), were characterized by two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and simulated annealing calculations. Using data from c-AMP assays in combination with structural analysis of melanocortin receptor/ligand models, we conclude that a lysine residue at the C-terminus of the His-Phe-Arg-Trp core sequence of melanocortin hormone is an important determinant for receptor selectivity in the both cyclic and linear MSH analogues. Our results suggest that side-chain orientation and charge-charge interactions with the ligand molecule play critical roles in receptor selectivity, whereas the overall backbone conformation or turn type contributes mainly to receptor binding.
MOTIVATION: Since the newly developed Grid platform has been considered as a powerful tool to share resources in the Internet environment, it is of interest to demonstrate an efficient methodology to process massive biological data on the Grid environments at a low cost. This paper presents an efficient and economical method based on a Grid platform to predict secondary structures of all proteins in a given organism, which normally requires a long computation time through sequential execution, by means of processing a large amount of protein sequence data simultaneously. From the prediction results, a genome scale protein fold space can be pursued. RESULTS: Using the improved Grid platform, the secondary structure prediction on genomic scale and protein topology derived from the new scoring scheme for four different model proteomes was presented. This protein fold space was compared with structures from the Protein Data Bank, database and it showed similarly aligned distribution. Therefore, the fold space approach based on this new scoring scheme could be a guideline for predicting a folding family in a given organism.
Oligomers with alpha-aminooxy acids are reported to form very stable turn and helix structures, and they are supposed to be useful peptidomimetics for drug design. A recent report suggested that homochiral oxa-peptides form a strong eight-member-ring structure by a hydrogen bond between adjacent aminooxy-acid residues in a CDCl3 solution. In order to design an alpha-MSH analog with a stable turn conformation, we synthesized four tetramers and one pentamer, based on alpha-MSH sequence, and determined the solution structures of the molecules by two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and simulated annealing calculations. The solution conformations of the three peptidomimetic molecules (TLV, TDV, and TLL) in DMSO-d6 contain a stable 7-membered-ring structure that is similar to a gamma-turn in normal peptides. Newly-designed tetramer TDF and pentamer PDF have a ball-type rigid structure that is induced by strong hydrogen bonds between adjacent amide protons and carbonyl oxygens. In conclusion, the aminooxy acids, easily prepared from natural or unnatural amino acids, can be employed to prepare peptidomimetic analogues with well-defined turn structures for pharmaceutical interest.