Protein microarray assay for the screening of SH3 domain interactions

Exhaustive search of linear information encoding protein-peptide recognition

High-throughput in vitro methods have been extensively applied to identify linear information that encodes peptide recognition. However, these methods are limited in number of peptides, sequence variation, and length of peptides that can be explored, and often produce solutions that are not found in the cell. Despite the large number of methods developed to attempt addressing these issues, the exhaustive search of linear information encoding protein-peptide recognition has been so far physically unfeasible. Here, we describe a strategy, called DALEL, for the exhaustive search of linear sequence information encoded in proteins that bind to a common partner. We applied DALEL to explore binding specificity of SH3 domains in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using only the polypeptide sequences of SH3 domain binding proteins, we succeeded in identifying the majority of known SH3 binding sites previously discovered either in vitro or in vivo. Moreover, we discovered a number of sites with both non-canonical sequences and distinct properties that may serve ancillary roles in peptide recognition. We compared DALEL to a variety of state-of-the-art algorithms in the blind identification of known binding sites of the human Grb2 SH3 domain. We also benchmarked DALEL on curated biological motifs derived from the ELM database to evaluate the effect of increasing/decreasing the enrichment of the motifs. Our strategy can be applied in conjunction with experimental data of proteins interacting with a common partner to identify binding sites among them. Yet, our strategy can also be applied to any group of proteins of interest to identify enriched linear motifs or to exhaustively explore the space of linear information encoded in a polypeptide sequence. Finally, we have developed a webserver located at http://michnick.bcm.umontreal.ca/dalel, offering user-friendly interface and providing different scenarios utilizing DALEL.

Here we describe the first strategy for the exhaustive search of the linear information encoding protein-peptide recognition; an approach that has previously been physically unfeasible because the combinatorial space of polypeptide sequences is too vast. The search covers the entire space of sequences with no restriction on motif length or composition, and includes all possible combinations of amino acids at distinct positions of each sequence, as well as positions with correlated preferences for amino acids.

Evolution of domain-peptide interactions to coadapt specificity and affinity to functional diversity

Evolution of complexity in eukaryotic proteomes has arisen, in part, through emergence of modular independently folded domains mediating protein interactions via binding to short linear peptides in proteins. Over 30 years, structural properties and sequence preferences of these peptides have been extensively characterized. Less successful, however, were efforts to establish relationships between physicochemical properties and functions of domain-peptide interactions. To our knowledge, we have devised the first strategy to exhaustively explore the binding specificity of protein domain-peptide interactions. We applied the strategy to SH3 domains to determine the properties of their binding peptides starting from various experimental data. The strategy identified the majority (∼70%) of experimentally determined SH3 binding sites. We discovered mutual relationships among binding specificity, binding affinity, and structural properties and evolution of linear peptides. Remarkably, we found that these properties are also related to functional diversity, defined by depth of proteins within hierarchies of gene ontologies. Our results revealed that linear peptides evolved to coadapt specificity and affinity to functional diversity of domain-peptide interactions. Thus, domain-peptide interactions follow human-constructed gene ontologies, which suggest that our understanding of biological process hierarchies reflect the way chemical and thermodynamic properties of linear peptides and their interaction networks, in general, have evolved.

Comprehensive analysis of interactions between the Src-associated protein in mitosis of 68 kDa and the human Src-homology 3 proteome

The protein Sam68 is involved in many cellular processes such as cell-cycle regulation, RNA metabolism, or signal transduction. Sam68 comprises a central RNA-binding domain flanked by unstructured tails containing docking sites for signalling proteins including seven proline-rich sequences (denoted P0 to P6) as potential SH3-domain binding motifs. To comprehensively assess Sam68-SH3-interactions, we applied a phage-display screening of a library containing all approx. 300 human SH3 domains. Thereby we identified five new (from intersectin 2, the osteoclast stimulating factor OSF, nephrocystin, sorting nexin 9, and CIN85) and seven already known high-confidence Sam68-ligands (mainly from the Src-kinase family), as well as several lower-affinity binders. Interaction of the high-affinity Sam68-binders was confirmed in independent assays in vitro (phage-ELISA, GST-pull-down) and in vivo (FACS-based FRET-analysis with CFP- and YFP-tagged proteins). Fine-mapping analyses with peptides established P0, P3, P4, and P5 as exclusive docking-sites for SH3 domains, which showed varying preferences for these motifs. Mutational analyses identified individual residues within the proline-rich motifs being crucial for the interactions. Based on these data, we generated a Sam68-mutant incapable of interacting with SH3 domains any more, as subsequently demonstrated by FRET-analyses. In conclusion, we present a thorough characterization of Sam68's interplay with the SH3 proteome. The observed interaction between Sam68 and OSF complements the known Sam68-Src and OSF-Src interactions. Thus, we propose, that Sam68 functions as a classical scaffold protein in this context, assembling components of an osteoclast-specific signalling pathway.

SH3 domains come of age

With the sequencing of an eukaryotic genome, it is possible to inventory the predicted proteome for proteins that carry one or more Src Homology 3 (SH3) domains. Due to the current ease of cloning and gene synthesis, these short domains can be readily overexpressed and manipulated for the purpose of characterizing their specificity and affinity for peptide ligands, as well as solving the three-dimensional structures of the domains. This information can be used to predict and confirm their cellular interacting partners, in the effort to understand the function of a eukaryotic protein by focusing on its SH3 domain. Finally, capitalizing on our mature understanding about protein-protein interacting modules, like the SH3 domain, it is possible to use directed evolution to enhance or change the specificity and affinity of an SH3 domain for the purpose of creating reagents to be used in biochemical purification or cell perturbation studies.

The application of modular protein domains in proteomics

The ability of modular protein domains to independently fold and bind short peptide ligands both in vivo and in vitro has allowed a significant number of protein-protein interaction studies to take advantage of them as affinity and detection reagents. Here, we refer to modular domain based proteomics as "domainomics" to draw attention to the potential of using domains and their motifs as tools in proteomics. In this review we describe core concepts of domainomics, established and emerging technologies, and recent studies by functional category. Accumulation of domain-motif binding data should ultimately provide the foundation for domain-specific interactomes, which will likely reveal the underlying substructure of protein networks as well as the selectivity and plasticity of signal transduction.