Biomedical subjects

Paola Lo Surdo

Publications and source records attributed to Paola Lo Surdo.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

A novel ADP- and zinc-binding fold from function-directed in vitro evolution.

A great challenge to biologists is to create proteins with novel folds and tailored functions. As an alternative to de novo protein design, we investigated the structure of a randomly generated protein targeted to bind ATP. The crystal structure reveals a novel alpha/beta fold bound to its ligand, representing both the first protein structure derived from in vitro evolution and the first nucleotide-binding protein stabilized by a zinc ion.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

PubMed2003

Conformation of full-length Bruton tyrosine kinase (Btk) from synchrotron X-ray solution scattering.

Brutons's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is a non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase (nrPTK) essential for the development of B lymphocytes in humans and mice. Like Src and Abl PTKs, Btk contains a conserved cassette formed by SH3, SH2 and protein kinase domains, but differs from them by the presence of an N-terminal PH domain and the Tec homology region. The domain structure of Btk was analysed using X-ray synchrotron radiation scattering in solution. Low resolution shapes of the full-length protein and several deletion mutants determined ab initio from the scattering data indicated a linear arrangement of domains. This arrangement was further confirmed by rigid body modelling using known high resolution structures of individual domains. The final model of Btk displays an extended conformation with no, or little, inter-domain interactions. In agreement with these results, deletion of non-catalytic domains failed to enhance the activity of Btk. Taken together, our results indicate that, contrary to Src and Abl, Btk might not require an assembled conformation for the regulation of its activity.

Agammaglobulinaemia Tyrosine Kinase↗

PubMed2003

Crystal structure and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses of the SAND domain from glucocorticoid modulatory element binding protein-1 reveals deoxyribonucleic acid and zinc binding regions.

The glucocorticoid-modulatory element-binding proteins, GMEB1 and GMEB2, are ubiquitous, multifunctional DNA-binding proteins with important roles in the modulation of transcription upon steroid hormone activation. The GMEB proteins have intrinsic transactivation ability, but also control the glucocorticoid response via direct binding to the glucocorticoid receptor. They are also mandatory host proteins for Parvovirus replication. Here we present the 1.55 A resolution crystal structure of a central portion of GMEB1, encompassing its SAND domain, which shares 80% sequence identity with the GMEB2 SAND domain. We demonstrate that this domain, also present in numerous proteins implicated in chromatin-associated transcriptional regulation, is necessary and sufficient to bind the glucocorticoid-modulatory element (GME) DNA target. We use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and binding studies to map the DNA recognition surface to an alpha-helical region exposing the conserved KDWK motif. Using site-directed mutagenesis, key residues for DNA binding are identified. In contrast to the previously determined NMR structure of the Sp100b SAND domain, we find that the GMEB1 SAND domain also comprises a zinc-binding motif. Although the zinc ion is not necessary for DNA binding, it is found to determine the C-terminal conformation of the GMEB1 SAND domain. We also show that homologous zinc-binding motifs exist in a subset of SAND domain proteins and probe the roles of this novel motif.

Amino Acid Sequence↗