The neuronal calcium sensor NCS-1 regulates the phosphorylation state and activity of the Gα chaperone and GEF Ric-8A.

The neuronal calcium sensor 1 (NCS-1), an EF-hand Ca binding protein, and Ric-8A coregulate synapse number and probability of neurotransmitter release. Recently, the structures of Ric-8A bound to Gα have revealed how Ric-8A phosphorylation promotes Gα recognition and activity as a chaperone and guanine nucleotide exchange factor. However, the molecular mechanism by which NCS-1 regulates Ric-8A activity and its interaction with Gα subunits is not well understood.

Insights into real-time chemical processes in a calcium sensor protein-directed dynamic library.

Dynamic combinatorial chemistry (DCC) has proven its potential in drug discovery speeding the identification of modulators of biological targets. However, the exchange chemistries typically take place under specific reaction conditions, with limited tools capable of operating under physiological parameters. Here we report a catalyzed protein-directed DCC working at low temperatures that allows the calcium sensor NCS-1 to find the best ligands in situ.

Calcium-dependent oligomerization of CAR proteins at cell membrane modulates ABA signaling.

Regulation of ion transport in plants is essential for cell function. Abiotic stress unbalances cell ion homeostasis, and plants tend to readjust it, regulating membrane transporters and channels. The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) and the second messenger Ca(2+) are central in such processes, as they are involved in the regulation of protein kinases and phosphatases that control ion transport activity in response to environmental stimuli.

The bacteriocin AS-48 requires dimer dissociation followed by hydrophobic interactions with the membrane for antibacterial activity.

The molecular mechanism underlining the antibacterial activity of the bacteriocin AS-48 is not known, and two different and opposite alternatives have been proposed. Available data suggested that the interaction of positively charged amino acids of AS-48 with the membrane would produce membrane destabilization and disruption. Alternatively, it has been proposed that AS-48 activity could rely on the effective insertion of the bacteriocin into the membrane.

Structural basis of the regulatory mechanism of the plant CIPK family of protein kinases controlling ion homeostasis and abiotic stress.

Plant cells have developed specific protective molecular machinery against environmental stresses. The family of CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPK) and their interacting activators, the calcium sensors calcineurin B-like (CBLs), work together to decode calcium signals elicited by stress situations. The molecular basis of biological activation of CIPKs relies on the calcium-dependent interaction of a self-inhibitory NAF motif with a particular CBL, the phosphorylation of the activation loop by upstream kinases, and the subsequent phosphorylation of the CBL by the CIPK.

The guanine-exchange factor Ric8a binds to the Ca²⁺ sensor NCS-1 to regulate synapse number and neurotransmitter release.

The conserved Ca(2+)-binding protein Frequenin (homolog of the mammalian NCS-1, neural calcium sensor) is involved in pathologies that result from abnormal synapse number and probability of neurotransmitter release per synapse. Both synaptic features are likely to be co-regulated but the intervening mechanisms remain poorly understood. We show here that Drosophila Ric8a (a homolog of mammalian synembryn, which is also known as Ric8a), a receptor-independent activator of G protein complexes, binds to Frq2 but not to the virtually identical homolog Frq1.

Frq2 from Drosophila melanogaster: cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis.

Drosophila melanogaster contains two calcium-binding proteins, Frq1 and Frq2, in the nervous system that control the number of synapses and the probability of release. To understand the differential function of the two proteins, whose sequence is only 5% dissimilar, the crystal structures of Frq1 and Frq2 are needed. Here, the cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of Frq2 are presented.

Preliminary crystallographic analysis of the ankyrin-repeat domain of Arabidopsis thaliana AKT1: identification of the domain boundaries for protein crystallization.

The Arabidopsis thaliana K(+) transporter 1 (AKT1) participates in the maintenance of an adequate cell potassium (K(+)) concentration. The CBL-interacting protein kinase 23 (CIPK23) activates AKT1 for K(+) uptake under low-K(+) conditions. This process is mediated by the interaction between the cytosolic ankyrin-repeat (AR) domain of AKT1 and the kinase domain of CIPK23.

Evolutionary adaptation of the fly Pygo PHD finger toward recognizing histone H3 tail methylated at arginine 2.

Pygo proteins promote Armadillo- and β-catenin-dependent transcription, by relieving Groucho-dependent repression of Wnt targets. Their PHD fingers bind histone H3 tail methylated at lysine 4, and to the HD1 domain of their Legless/BCL9 cofactors, linking Pygo to Armadillo/β-catenin. Intriguingly, fly Pygo orthologs exhibit a tryptophan > phenylalanine substitution in their histone pocket-divider which reduces their affinity for histones.

Structural Biology of a Major Signaling Network that Regulates Plant Abiotic Stress: The CBL-CIPK Mediated Pathway.

The Arabidopsis SOS2 family of twenty-six protein kinases (CIPKs), their interacting activators, the SOS3 family of ten calcium-binding proteins (CBLs) and protein phosphatases type 2C (PP2C), function together in decoding calcium signals elicited by different environmental stimuli. Biochemical data suggest that stable CBL-CIPK or CIPK-PP2C complexes may be regulating the activity of various substrates controlling ion homeostasis. The available structural information provides a general regulatory mechanism in which calcium perception by CBLs and kinase activation is coupled.

Bin2 is a membrane sculpting N-BAR protein that influences leucocyte podosomes, motility and phagocytosis.

Cell motility, adhesion and phagocytosis are controlled by actin and membrane remodelling processes. Bridging integrator-2 (Bin2) also called Breast cancer-associated protein 1 (BRAP1) is a predicted N-BAR domain containing protein with unknown function that is highly expressed in leucocytic cells. In the present study we solved the structure of Bin2 BAR domain and studied its membrane binding and bending properties in vitro and in vivo.

Structural insights on the plant salt-overly-sensitive 1 (SOS1) Na(+)/H(+) antiporter.

The Arabidopsisthaliana Na(+)/H(+) antiporter salt-overly-sensitive 1 (SOS1) is essential to maintain low intracellular levels of toxic Na(+) under salt stress. Available data show that the plant SOS2 protein kinase and its interacting activator, the SOS3 calcium-binding protein, function together in decoding calcium signals elicited by salt stress and regulating the phosphorylation state and the activity of SOS1. Molecular genetic studies have shown that the activation implies a domain reorganization of the antiporter cytosolic moiety, indicating that there is a clear relationship between function and molecular structure of the antiporter.

Decoding of methylated histone H3 tail by the Pygo-BCL9 Wnt signaling complex.

Pygo and BCL9/Legless transduce the Wnt signal by promoting the transcriptional activity of beta-catenin/Armadillo in normal and malignant cells. We show that human and Drosophila Pygo PHD fingers associate with their cognate HD1 domains from BCL9/Legless to bind specifically to the histone H3 tail methylated at lysine 4 (H3K4me). The crystal structures of ternary complexes between PHD, HD1, and two different H3K4me peptides reveal a unique mode of histone tail recognition: efficient histone binding requires HD1 association, and the PHD-HD1 complex binds preferentially to H3K4me2 while displaying insensitivity to methylation of H3R2.

The complex between SOS3 and SOS2 regulatory domain from Arabidopsis thaliana: cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis.

The salt-tolerance genes SOS3 (salt overly sensitive 3) and SOS2 (salt overly sensitive 2) regulatory domain of Arabidopsis thaliana were cloned into a polycistronic plasmid and the protein complex was expressed in Escherichia coli, allowing purification to homogeneity in three chromatographic steps. Crystals were grown using vapour-diffusion techniques. The crystals belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 44.

The structure of the C-terminal domain of the protein kinase AtSOS2 bound to the calcium sensor AtSOS3.

The plant SOS2 family of protein kinases and their interacting activators, the SOS3 family of calcium-binding proteins, function together in decoding calcium signals elicited by different environmental stimuli. SOS2 is activated by Ca-SOS3 and subsequently phosphorylates the ion transporter SOS1 to bring about cellular ion homeostasis under salt stress. In addition to possessing the kinase activity, members of the SOS2 family of protein kinases can bind to protein phosphatase 2Cs.

The structure of the Arabidopsis thaliana SOS3: molecular mechanism of sensing calcium for salt stress response.

The Arabidopsis thaliana SOS3 gene encodes a calcium sensor that is required for plant salt tolerance. The SOS3 protein binds to and activates the self-inhibited SOS2 protein kinase, which mediates the expression and activities of various transporters important for ion homeostasis under salt stress. SOS3 belongs to a unique family of calcium-binding proteins that contain two pairs of EF hand motifs with four putative metal-binding sites.

Peptide AS-48: prototype of a new class of cyclic bacteriocins.

After the discovery of bacteriocin AS-48, a 70-residue cyclic peptide produced by Enterococcus faecalis subsp. liquefaciens, some naturally-occurring cyclic proteins from bacteria have been reported. AS-48 is encoded by the 68-kb pheromone-responsive plasmid pMB2, and the gene cluster involved in production and immunity has been identified and sequenced.