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Structural basis for regulation of the Crk signaling protein by a proline switch

Nature Chemical Biology volume 7, pages 51–57 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Proline switches, controlled by cis-trans isomerization, have emerged as a particularly effective regulatory mechanism in a wide range of biological processes. Here we report the structures of both the cis and trans conformers of a proline switch in the Crk signaling protein. Proline isomerization toggles Crk between two conformations: an autoinhibitory conformation, stabilized by the intramolecular association of two tandem SH3 domains in the cis form, and an uninhibited, activated conformation promoted by the trans form. In addition to acting as a structural switch, the heterogeneous proline recruits cyclophilin A, which accelerates the interconversion rate between the isomers, thereby regulating the kinetics of Crk activation. The data provide atomic insight into the mechanisms that underpin the functionality of this binary switch and elucidate its remarkable efficiency. The results also reveal new SH3 binding surfaces, highlighting the binding versatility and expanding the noncanonical ligand repertoire of this important signaling domain.

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Figure 1: Domain organization of Crk.
Figure 2: Structural characterization of the trans and cis Crk l-SH3C conformers.
Figure 3: Structural comparison of the trans and cis isomers.
Figure 4: Dynamic characterization of the trans and cis isomers.
Figure 5: Structural characterization of CrkSLS in the closed, autoinhibited conformation.
Figure 6: Structural basis for conformer-specific SH3N-SH3C interaction in CrkSLS.
Figure 7: Mechanistic basis for the regulation of Crk activity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (GM80308 to C.G.K.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Paramita Sarkar, Tamjeed Saleh, Shiou-Ru Tzeng & Charalampos G Kalodimos

  2. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey, USA

    Raymond B Birge

  3. BioMaPS Institute for Quantitative Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Charalampos G Kalodimos

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Charalampos G Kalodimos

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  1. Paramita Sarkar
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Contributions

C.G.K. designed the research; P.S., T.S. and S.-R.T. performed the research; P.S., T.S., S.-R.T. and C.G.K. analyzed data; R.B.B. contributed reagents; and C.G.K. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Charalampos G Kalodimos.

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Supplementary Methods, Supplementary Figures 1–12 and Supplementary Table 1 (PDF 6967 kb)

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Crk cis-trans isomerization (MOV 1900 kb)

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Sarkar, P., Saleh, T., Tzeng, SR. et al. Structural basis for regulation of the Crk signaling protein by a proline switch. Nat Chem Biol 7, 51–57 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.494

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