Extracellular-signal regulated kinase 8 of Trypanosoma brucei uniquely phosphorylates its proliferating cell nuclear antigen homolog and reveals exploitable properties

A phenotypic screen with Trypanosoma brucei for discovering small molecules that target the SLiM-binding pocket of proliferating cell nuclear antigen orthologs

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a homo-trimeric protein complex that clamps around DNA to tether DNA polymerases to the template during replication and serves as a hub for many other interacting proteins. It regulates DNA metabolic processes and other vital cellar functions through the binding of proteins having short linear motifs (SLiMs) like the PIP-box (PCNA-interacting protein-box) or the APIM (AlkB homolog 2 PCNA-interacting motif) in the hydrophobic pocket where SLiMs bind. However, overproducing TbPCNA or human PCNA (hPCNA) in the pathogenic protist Trypanosoma brucei triggers a dominant-negative phenotype of arrested proliferation. The mechanism for arresting T. brucei proliferation requires the overproduced PCNA orthologs to have functional intact SLiM-binding pocket. Sight-directed mutagenesis studies showed that T. brucei overproducing PCNA variants with disrupted SLiM-binding pockets grew normally. We hypothesized that chemically disrupting the SLiM-binding pocket would restore proliferation in T. brucei, overproducing PCNA orthologs. Testing this hypothesis is the proof-of-concept for a T. brucei-based PCNA screening assay. The assay design is to discover bioactive small molecules that restore proliferation in T. brucei strains that overproduce PCNA orthologs, likely by disrupting interactions in the SLiM-binding pocket. The pilot screen for this assay discovered two hit compounds that linked to predetermined PCNA targets. Compound #1, a known hPCNA inhibitor, had selective bioactivity to hPCNA overproduced in T. brucei, validating the assay. Compound #6 had promiscuous bioactivity for hPCNA and TbPCNA but is the first compound discovered with bioactivity for inhibiting TbPCNA.

Atypical MAP kinases - new insights and directions from amoeba

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) have been the focus of many studies over the past several decades, but the understanding of one subgroup of MAPKs, orthologs of MAPK15, known as atypical MAPKs, has lagged behind others. In most organisms, specific activating signals or downstream responses of atypical MAPK signaling pathways have not yet been identified even though these MAPKs are associated with many eukaryotic processes, including cancer and embryonic development. In this Review, we discuss recent studies that are shedding new light on both the regulation and function of atypical MAPKs in different organisms. In particular, the analysis of the atypical MAPK in the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum has revealed important roles in chemotactic responses and gene regulation. The rapid and transient phosphorylation of the atypical MAPK in these responses suggest a highly regulated activation mechanism in vivo despite the ability of atypical MAPKs to autophosphorylate in vitro. Atypical MAPK function can also impact the activation of other MAPKs in amoeba. These advances are providing new perspectives on possible MAPK roles in animals that have not been previously considered, and this might lead to the identification of potential targets for regulating cell movement in the treatment of diseases.

An atypical MAPK regulates translocation of a GATA transcription factor in response to chemoattractant stimulation

The Dictyostelium atypical mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) Erk2 is required for chemotactic responses to cAMP as amoeba undergo multicellular development. In this study, Erk2 was found to be essential for the cAMP-stimulated translocation of the GATA transcription factor GtaC as indicated by the distribution of a GFP-GtaC reporter. Erk2 was also found to be essential for the translocation of GtaC in response to external folate, a foraging signal that directs the chemotaxis of amoeba to bacteria. Erk1, the only other Dictyostelium MAPK, was not required for the GtaC translocation to either chemoattractant, indicating that GFP-GtaC is a kinase translocation reporter specific for atypical MAPKs. The translocation of GFP-GtaC in response to folate was absent in mutants lacking the folate receptor Far1 or the coupled G-protein subunit Gα4. Loss of GtaC function resulted in enhanced chemotactic movement to folate, suggesting that GtaC suppresses responses to folate. The alteration of four Erk2-preferred phosphorylation sites in GtaC impacted the translocation of GFP-GtaC in response to folate and the GFP-GtaC-mediated rescue of aggregation and development of gtaC- cells. The ability of different chemoattractants to stimulate Erk2-regulated GtaC translocation suggests that atypical MAPK-mediated regulation of transcription factors can contribute to different cell fates.

Pathogenic role of mitogen activated protein kinases in protozoan parasites

Protozoan parasites with complex life cycles have high mortality rates affecting billions of human lives. Available anti-parasitic drugs are inadequate due to variable efficacy, toxicity, poor patient compliance and drug-resistance. Hence, there is an urgent need for the development of safer and better chemotherapeutics. Mitogen Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) have drawn much attention as potential drug targets. This review summarizes unique structural and functional features of MAP kinases and their possible role in pathogenesis of obligate intracellular protozoan parasites namely, Leishmania, Trypanosoma, Plasmodium and Toxoplasma. It also provides an overview of available knowledge concerning the target proteins of parasite MAPKs and the need to understand and unravel unknown interaction network(s) of MAPK(s).

Depletion of the extracellular-signal regulated kinase 8 homolog in Trypanosoma brucei in vivo reduces its virulence in a mouse target validation study

Trypanosoma brucei sub-species are vector borne kinetoplastid parasites that cause the potentially lethal disease Human African trypanosomiasis. The target-based therapy for curing this parasitic disease relies on one drug, Eflornithine. The roles of mitogen-activated protein kinases in regulating key cellular processes in eukaryotic cells such as proliferation, stress response and differentiation plus their druggability make them attractive targets for therapeutic exploitation. The extracellular-regulated kinase 8 homolog in T. brucei (TbERK8) is a MAPK that is required for the parasite to proliferate normally in culture. We examined the importance of TbERK8 for permitting T. brucei to thrive in mice. Here we show that depleting TbERK8 in vivo negatively affected the virulence of T. brucei reducing its ability to progress to lethal infections or cause significant pathology in mice, which validates it as an attractive target.

Multiplex Substrate Profiling by Mass Spectrometry for Kinases as a Method for Revealing Quantitative Substrate Motifs

The more than 500 protein kinases comprising the human kinome catalyze hundreds of thousands of phosphorylation events to regulate a diversity of cellular functions; however, the extended substrate specificity is still unknown for many of these kinases. We report here a method for quantitatively describing kinase substrate specificity using an unbiased peptide library-based approach with direct measurement of phosphorylation by tandem liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) peptide sequencing (multiplex substrate profiling by mass spectrometry, MSP-MS). This method can be deployed with as low as 10 nM enzyme to determine activity against S/T/Y-containing peptides; additionally, label-free quantitation is used to ascertain catalytic efficiency values for individual peptide substrates in the multiplex assay. Using this approach we developed quantitative motifs for a selection of kinases from each branch of the kinome, with and without known substrates, highlighting the applicability of the method. The sensitivity of this approach is evidenced by its ability to detect phosphorylation events from nanogram quantities of immunoprecipitated material, which allows for wider applicability of this method. To increase the information content of the quantitative kinase motifs, a sublibrary approach was used to expand the testable sequence space within a peptide library of approximately 100 members for CDK1, CDK7, and CDK9. Kinetic analysis of the HIV-1 Tat (transactivator of transcription)-positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) interaction allowed for localization of the P-TEFb phosphorylation site as well as characterization of the stimulatory effect of Tat on P-TEFb catalytic efficiency.