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Lin L, Deng J, Peng J, Cui J, Wang L, Zhang M, Gao J, Li F, Shi Y, Lv M. Structural insights into the recognition of the A/T-rich motif in target gene promoters by the LMX1a homeobox domain. FEBS J 2024; 291:2792-2810. [PMID: 38465368 DOI: 10.1111/febs.17118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
LIM homeodomain transcription factor 1-alpha (LMX1a) is a neuronal lineage-specific transcription activator that plays an essential role during the development of midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) neurons. LMX1a induces the expression of multiple key genes, which ultimately determine the morphology, physiology, and functional identity of mDA neurons. This function of LMX1a is dependent on its homeobox domain. Here, we determined the structures of the LMX1a homeobox domain in complex with the promoter sequences of the Wnt family member 1 (WNT1) or paired like homeodomain 3 (Pitx3) gene, respectively. The complex structures revealed that the LMX1a homeobox domain employed its α3 helix and an N-terminal loop to achieve specific target recognition. The N-terminal loop (loop1) interacted with the minor groove of the double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), whereas the third α-helix (α3) was tightly packed into the major groove of the dsDNA. Structure-based mutations in the α3 helix of the homeobox domain significantly reduced the binding affinity of LMX1a to dsDNA. Moreover, we identified a nonsyndromic hearing loss (NSHL)-related mutation, R199, which yielded a more flexible loop and disturbed the recognition in the minor groove of dsDNA, consistent with the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Furthermore, overexpression of Lmx1a promoted the differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells and upregulated the transcription of WNT1 and PITX3 genes. Hence, our work provides a detailed elucidation of the specific recognition between the LMX1a homeobox domain and its specific dsDNA targets, which represents valuable information for future investigations of the functional pathways that are controlled by LMX1a during mDA neuron development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liqing Lin
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Cross Disciplinary Science, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Jie Deng
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Cross Disciplinary Science, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Junhui Peng
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jing Cui
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Cross Disciplinary Science, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Lei Wang
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Cross Disciplinary Science, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Min Zhang
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Cross Disciplinary Science, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Jia Gao
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Cross Disciplinary Science, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Fudong Li
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Cross Disciplinary Science, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yunyu Shi
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Cross Disciplinary Science, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Mengqi Lv
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Hefei National Research Center for Cross Disciplinary Science, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, China
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Vorreiter C, Robaa D, Sippl W. Exploring Aromatic Cage Flexibility Using Cosolvent Molecular Dynamics Simulations─An In-Silico Case Study of Tudor Domains. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:4553-4569. [PMID: 38771194 PMCID: PMC11167732 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c00298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Cosolvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have proven to be powerful in silico tools to predict hotspots for binding regions on protein surfaces. In the current study, the method was adapted and applied to two Tudor domain-containing proteins, namely Spindlin1 (SPIN1) and survival motor neuron protein (SMN). Tudor domains are characterized by so-called aromatic cages that recognize methylated lysine residues of protein targets. In the study, the conformational transitions from closed to open aromatic cage conformations were investigated by performing MD simulations with cosolvents using six different probe molecules. It is shown that a trajectory clustering approach in combination with volume and atomic distance tracking allows a reasonable discrimination between open and closed aromatic cage conformations and the docking of inhibitors yields very good reproducibility with crystal structures. Cosolvent MDs are suitable to capture the flexibility of aromatic cages and thus represent a promising tool for the optimization of inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Vorreiter
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry,
Institute of Pharmacy, Martin-Luther-University
of Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, Saale, Germany
| | - Dina Robaa
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry,
Institute of Pharmacy, Martin-Luther-University
of Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, Saale, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Sippl
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry,
Institute of Pharmacy, Martin-Luther-University
of Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, Saale, Germany
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Tang H, Wang L, Li S, Wei X, Lv M, Zhong F, Liu Y, Liu J, Fu B, Zhu Q, Wang D, Liu J, Ruan K, Gao J, Xu W. Inhibitors against Two PDZ Domains of MDA-9 Suppressed Migration of Breast Cancer Cells. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24043431. [PMID: 36834839 PMCID: PMC9964117 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24043431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Melanoma differentiation-associated gene 9 (MDA-9) is a small adaptor protein with tandem PDZ domains that promotes tumor progression and metastasis in various human cancers. However, it is difficult to develop drug-like small molecules with high affinity due to the narrow groove of the PDZ domains of MDA-9. Herein, we identified four novel hits targeting the PDZ1 and PDZ2 domains of MDA-9, namely PI1A, PI1B, PI2A, and PI2B, using a protein-observed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) fragment screening method. We also solved the crystal structure of the MDA-9 PDZ1 domain in complex with PI1B and characterized the binding poses of PDZ1-PI1A and PDZ2-PI2A, guided by transferred paramagnetic relaxation enhancement. The protein-ligand interaction modes were then cross-validated by the mutagenesis of the MDA-9 PDZ domains. Competitive fluorescence polarization experiments demonstrated that PI1A and PI2A blocked the binding of natural substrates to the PDZ1 and PDZ2 domains, respectively. Furthermore, these inhibitors exhibited low cellular toxicity, but suppressed the migration of MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells, which recapitulated the phenotype of MDA-9 knockdown. Our work has paved the way for the development of potent inhibitors using structure-guided fragment ligation in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heng Tang
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Lei Wang
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Shuju Li
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Xiaoli Wei
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Mengqi Lv
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Fumei Zhong
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Yaqian Liu
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Jiuyang Liu
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Bangguo Fu
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Qizhi Zhu
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Dan Wang
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Jiajia Liu
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Ke Ruan
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Jia Gao
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
- Correspondence: (J.G.); (W.X.)
| | - Weiping Xu
- Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
- Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
- Correspondence: (J.G.); (W.X.)
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Van HT, Harkins PR, Patel A, Jain AK, Lu Y, Bedford MT, Santos MA. Methyl-lysine readers PHF20 and PHF20L1 define two distinct gene expression-regulating NSL complexes. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:101588. [PMID: 35033534 PMCID: PMC8867114 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The methyl-lysine readers plant homeodomain finger protein 20 (PHF20) and its homolog PHF20-like protein 1 (PHF20L1) are known components of the nonspecific lethal (NSL) complex that regulates gene expression through its histone acetyltransferase activity. In the current model, both PHF homologs coexist in the same NSL complex, although this was not formally tested; nor have the functions of PHF20 and PHF20L1 regarding NSL complex integrity and transcriptional regulation been investigated. Here, we perform an in-depth biochemical and functional characterization of PHF20 and PHF20L1 in the context of the NSL complex. Using mass spectrometry, genome-wide chromatin analysis, and protein-domain mapping, we identify the existence of two distinct NSL complexes that exclusively contain either PHF20 or PHF20L1. We show that the C-terminal domains of PHF20 and PHF20L1 are essential for complex formation with NSL, and the Tudor 2 domains are required for chromatin binding. The genome-wide chromatin landscape of PHF20–PHF20L1 shows that these proteins bind mostly to the same genomic regions, at promoters of highly expressed/housekeeping genes. Yet, deletion of PHF20 and PHF20L1 does not abrogate gene expression or impact the recruitment of the NSL complex to those target gene promoters, suggesting the existence of an alternative mechanism that compensates for the transcription of genes whose sustained expression is important for critical cellular functions. This work shifts the current paradigm and lays the foundation for studies on the differential roles of PHF20 and PHF20L1 in regulating NSL complex activity in physiological and diseases states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hieu T Van
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA; Center for Cancer Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA; Graduate Program in Genetics & Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Peter R Harkins
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Avni Patel
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Abhinav K Jain
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA; Center for Cancer Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Yue Lu
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA; Center for Cancer Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Mark T Bedford
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA; Center for Cancer Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Margarida A Santos
- Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA; Center for Cancer Epigenetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
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