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Tahti EF, Blount JM, Jackson SN, Gao M, Gill NP, Smith SN, Pederson NJ, Rumph SN, Struyvenberg SA, Mackley IGP, Madden DR, Amacher JF. Additive energetic contributions of multiple peptide positions determine the relative promiscuity of viral and human sequences for PDZ domain targets. Protein Sci 2023; 32:e4611. [PMID: 36851847 PMCID: PMC10022582 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023]
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions that involve recognition of short peptides are critical in cellular processes. Protein-peptide interaction surface areas are relatively small and shallow, and there are often overlapping specificities in families of peptide-binding domains. Therefore, dissecting selectivity determinants can be challenging. PDZ domains are a family of peptide-binding domains located in several intracellular signaling and trafficking pathways. These domains are also directly targeted by pathogens, and a hallmark of many oncogenic viral proteins is a PDZ-binding motif. However, amidst sequences that target PDZ domains, there is a wide spectrum in relative promiscuity. For example, the viral HPV16 E6 oncoprotein recognizes over double the number of PDZ domain-containing proteins as the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in the cell, despite similar PDZ targeting-sequences and identical motif residues. Here, we determine binding affinities for PDZ domains known to bind either HPV16 E6 alone or both CFTR and HPV16 E6, using peptides matching WT and hybrid sequences. We also use energy minimization to model PDZ-peptide complexes and use sequence analyses to investigate this difference. We find that while the majority of single mutations had marginal effects on overall affinity, the additive effect on the free energy of binding accurately describes the selectivity observed. Taken together, our results describe how complex and differing PDZ interactomes can be programmed in the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise F. Tahti
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Jadon M. Blount
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Sophie N. Jackson
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Melody Gao
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Nicholas P. Gill
- Department of BiochemistryGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthHanoverNew HampshireUSA
| | - Sarah N. Smith
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Nick J. Pederson
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | | | | | - Iain G. P. Mackley
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
| | - Dean R. Madden
- Department of BiochemistryGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthHanoverNew HampshireUSA
| | - Jeanine F. Amacher
- Department of ChemistryWestern Washington UniversityBellinghamWashingtonUSA
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2
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Tahti EF, Blount JM, Jackson SN, Gao M, Gill NP, Smith SN, Pederson NJ, Rumph SN, Struyvenberg SA, Mackley IGP, Madden DR, Amacher JF. Additive energetic contributions of multiple peptide positions determine the relative promiscuity of viral and human sequences for PDZ domain targets. bioRxiv 2023:2022.12.31.522388. [PMID: 36711692 PMCID: PMC9881875 DOI: 10.1101/2022.12.31.522388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions that include recognition of short sequences of amino acids, or peptides, are critical in cellular processes. Protein-peptide interaction surface areas are relatively small and shallow, and there are often overlapping specificities in families of peptide-binding domains. Therefore, dissecting selectivity determinants can be challenging. PDZ domains are an example of a peptide-binding domain located in several intracellular signaling and trafficking pathways, which form interactions critical for the regulation of receptor endocytic trafficking, tight junction formation, organization of supramolecular complexes in neurons, and other biological systems. These domains are also directly targeted by pathogens, and a hallmark of many oncogenic viral proteins is a PDZ-binding motif. However, amidst sequences that target PDZ domains, there is a wide spectrum in relative promiscuity. For example, the viral HPV16 E6 oncoprotein recognizes over double the number of PDZ domain-containing proteins as the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in the cell, despite similar PDZ targeting-sequences and identical motif residues. Here, we determine binding affinities for PDZ domains known to bind either HPV16 E6 alone or both CFTR and HPV16 E6, using peptides matching WT and hybrid sequences. We also use energy minimization to model PDZ-peptide complexes and use sequence analyses to investigate this difference. We find that while the majority of single mutations had a marginal effect on overall affinity, the additive effect on the free energy of binding accurately describes the selectivity observed. Taken together, our results describe how complex and differing PDZ interactomes can be programmed in the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elise F. Tahti
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Jadon M. Blount
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Sophie N. Jackson
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Melody Gao
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Nicholas P. Gill
- Department of Biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Sarah N. Smith
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Nick J. Pederson
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Simone N. Rumph
- Department of Biochemistry, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, USA
| | | | - Iain G. P. Mackley
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Dean R. Madden
- Department of Biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Jeanine F. Amacher
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
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Gao M, Mackley IGP, Mesbahi-Vasey S, Bamonte HA, Struyvenberg SA, Landolt L, Pederson NJ, Williams LI, Bahl CD, Brooks L, Amacher JF. Structural characterization and computational analysis of PDZ domains in Monosiga brevicollis. Protein Sci 2020; 29:2226-2244. [PMID: 32914530 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 09/07/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Identification of the molecular networks that facilitated the evolution of multicellular animals from their unicellular ancestors is a fundamental problem in evolutionary cellular biology. Choanoflagellates are recognized as the closest extant nonmetazoan ancestors to animals. These unicellular eukaryotes can adopt a multicellular-like "rosette" state. Therefore, they are compelling models for the study of early multicellularity. Comparative studies revealed that a number of putative human orthologs are present in choanoflagellate genomes, suggesting that a subset of these genes were necessary for the emergence of multicellularity. However, previous work is largely based on sequence alignments alone, which does not confirm structural nor functional similarity. Here, we focus on the PDZ domain, a peptide-binding domain which plays critical roles in myriad cellular signaling networks and which underwent a gene family expansion in metazoan lineages. Using a customized sequence similarity search algorithm, we identified 178 PDZ domains in the Monosiga brevicollis proteome. This includes 11 previously unidentified sequences, which we analyzed using Rosetta and homology modeling. To assess conservation of protein structure, we solved high-resolution crystal structures of representative M. brevicollis PDZ domains that are homologous to human Dlg1 PDZ2, Dlg1 PDZ3, GIPC, and SHANK1 PDZ domains. To assess functional conservation, we calculated binding affinities for mbGIPC, mbSHANK1, mbSNX27, and mbDLG-3 PDZ domains from M. brevicollis. Overall, we find that peptide selectivity is generally conserved between these two disparate organisms, with one possible exception, mbDLG-3. Overall, our results provide novel insight into signaling pathways in a choanoflagellate model of primitive multicellularity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melody Gao
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
| | - Iain G P Mackley
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
| | - Samaneh Mesbahi-Vasey
- Institute for Protein Innovation, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Haley A Bamonte
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
| | - Sarah A Struyvenberg
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
| | - Louisa Landolt
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
| | - Nick J Pederson
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
| | - Lucy I Williams
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
| | - Christopher D Bahl
- Institute for Protein Innovation, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Lionel Brooks
- Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
| | - Jeanine F Amacher
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
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Valgardson J, Cosbey R, Houser P, Rupp M, Van Bronkhorst R, Lee M, Jagodzinski F, Amacher JF. MotifAnalyzer-PDZ: A computational program to investigate the evolution of PDZ-binding target specificity. Protein Sci 2019; 28:2127-2143. [PMID: 31599029 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2019] [Revised: 09/27/2019] [Accepted: 09/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Recognition of short linear motifs (SLiMs) or peptides by proteins is an important component of many cellular processes. However, due to limited and degenerate binding motifs, prediction of cellular targets is challenging. In addition, many of these interactions are transient and of relatively low affinity. Here, we focus on one of the largest families of SLiM-binding domains in the human proteome, the PDZ domain. These domains bind the extreme C-terminus of target proteins, and are involved in many signaling and trafficking pathways. To predict endogenous targets of PDZ domains, we developed MotifAnalyzer-PDZ, a program that filters and compares all motif-satisfying sequences in any publicly available proteome. This approach enables us to determine possible PDZ binding targets in humans and other organisms. Using this program, we predicted and biochemically tested novel human PDZ targets by looking for strong sequence conservation in evolution. We also identified three C-terminal sequences in choanoflagellates that bind a choanoflagellate PDZ domain, the Monsiga brevicollis SHANK1 PDZ domain (mbSHANK1), with endogenously-relevant affinities, despite a lack of conservation with the targets of a homologous human PDZ domain, SHANK1. All three are predicted to be signaling proteins, with strong sequence homology to cytosolic and receptor tyrosine kinases. Finally, we analyzed and compared the positional amino acid enrichments in PDZ motif-satisfying sequences from over a dozen organisms. Overall, MotifAnalyzer-PDZ is a versatile program to investigate potential PDZ interactions. This proof-of-concept work is poised to enable similar types of analyses for other SLiM-binding domains (e.g., MotifAnalyzer-Kinase). MotifAnalyzer-PDZ is available at http://motifAnalyzerPDZ.cs.wwu.edu.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan Valgardson
- Department of Computer Science, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington.,Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
| | - Robin Cosbey
- Department of Computer Science, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
| | - Paul Houser
- Department of Computer Science, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
| | - Milo Rupp
- Department of Computer Science, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
| | - Raiden Van Bronkhorst
- Department of Computer Science, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
| | - Michael Lee
- Department of Computer Science, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
| | - Filip Jagodzinski
- Department of Computer Science, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
| | - Jeanine F Amacher
- Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
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