ERK Allosteric Activation: The Importance of Two Ordered Phosphorylation Events

ERK Allosteric Activation: The Importance of Two Ordered Phosphorylation Events.

The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) group is represented by four isoforms in mammals (p38alpha, p38beta2, p38gamma and p38delta). These p38 MAPK isoforms appear to mediate distinct functions in vivo due, in part, to differences in substrate phosphorylation by individual p38 MAPKs and also to selective activation by MAPK kinases (MAPKKs). Here we report the identification of two factors that contribute to the specificity of p38 MAPK activation. One mechanism of specificity is the selective formation of functional complexes between MAPKK and different p38 MAPKs. The formation of these complexes requires the presence of a MAPK docking site in the N-terminus of the MAPKK. The second mechanism that confers signaling specificity is the selective recognition of the activation loop (T-loop) of p38 MAPK isoforms. Together, these processes provide a mechanism that enables the selective activation of p38 MAPK in response to activated MAPKK.

Docking Interactions Induce Exposure of Activation Loop in the MAP Kinase ERK2

The activation loop segment in protein kinases is a common site for regulatory phosphorylation. In extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2), dual phosphorylation and conformational rearrangement of the activation loop accompany enzyme activation. X-ray structures show the active conformation to be stabilized by multiple ion pair interactions between phosphorylated threonine and tyrosine residues in the loop and six arginine residues in the kinase core. Despite the extensive salt bridge network, nuclear magnetic resonance Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill relaxation dispersion experiments show that the phosphorylated activation loop is conformationally mobile on a microsecond to millisecond time scale. The dynamics of the loop match those of previously reported global exchange within the kinase core region and surrounding the catalytic site that have been found to facilitate productive nucleotide binding. Mutations in the core region that alter these global motions also alter the dynamics of the activation loop. Conversely, mutations in the activation loop perturb the global exchange within the kinase core. Together, these findings provide evidence for coupling between motions in the activation loop and those surrounding the catalytic site in the active state of the kinase. Thus, the activation loop segment in dual-phosphorylated ERK2 is not held statically in the active X-ray conformation but instead undergoes exchange between conformers separated by a small energetic barrier, serving as part of a dynamic allosteric network controlling nucleotide binding and catalytic function.

Decision letter: A dynamic mechanism for allosteric activation of Aurora kinase A by activation loop phosphorylation

The Third Conformation of p38α MAP Kinase Observed in Phosphorylated p38α and in Solution

p42mapk [mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase; extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK)] is a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase that is activated by dual tyrosine and threonine phosphorylation in response to diverse agonists. Both the tyrosine and threonine phosphorylations are necessary for full enzymic activity. A MAP kinase activator recently purified and cloned has been shown to be a protein kinase (MAP kinase kinase) that is able to induce the dual phosphorylation of MAP kinase on both the regulatory tyrosine and threonine sites in vitro. In the present paper we have utilized MAP kinase mutants altered in the sites of regulatory phosphorylation to show, both in vivo and in vitro, that phosphorylation of the tyrosine and the threonine can occur independently of one another, with no required order of phosphorylation. We also utilized kinase-defective variants of MAP kinase with mutations in either the ATP-binding loop or the catalytic loop, and obtained data suggesting that the activity or structure of the catalytic loop of MAP kinase plays an important role in its own dual phosphorylation.

NSC-741909 is a recently identified novel anticancer agent that suppresses the growth of several NCI-60 cancer cell lines with a unique anticancer spectrum. However, its molecular mechanisms remain unknown. To determine the molecular mechanisms of NSC-741909-induced antitumor activity, we analyzed the changes of 77 protein biomarkers in a sensitive lung cancer cell line after treatment with this compound by using reverse-phase protein microarray. The results showed that phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases (P38 MAPK, ERK, and JNK) were persistently elevated by the treatment with NSC-741909. However, only the JNK-specific inhibitor SP600125 effectively blocked the apoptosis induced by NSC-741909. Moreover, NSC-741909-mediated apoptosis was also blocked by a dominant-negative JNK construct, suggesting that sustained activation of JNK is critical for the apoptosis induction. Further studies revealed that treatment with NSC-741909 suppressed dephosphorylation of JNK and the expression of MAPK phosphatase-1. Thus, NSC-741909-mediated inhibition of JNK dephosphorylation results in sustained JNK activation, which leads to apoptosis in cancer cells.

The Structure of the MAP2K MEK6 Reveals an Autoinhibitory Dimer

Functional Consequences of Mutations in CDKL5, an X-linked Gene Involved in Infantile Spasms and Mental Retardation

3-Phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1) mediates phosphorylation and activation of members of the AGC protein kinase family and plays an essential role in insulin signaling and action. However, whether and how PDK1 activity is regulated in cells remains largely uncharacterized. In the present study, we show that PDK1 undergoes insulin-stimulated and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-dependent phosphorylation at Ser244 in the activation loop and at a novel site: Ser163 in the hinge region between the two lobes of the kinase domain. Sequence alignment studies revealed that the residue corresponding to Ser163 of PDK1 in all other AGC kinases is glutamate, suggesting that a negative charge at this site may be important for PDK1 function. Replacing Ser163 with a negatively charged residue, glutamate, led to a 2-fold increase in PDK1 activity. Molecular modeling studies suggested that phosphorylated Ser163 may form additional hydrogen bonds with Tyr149 and Gln223. In support of this, mutation of Tyr149 to Ala is sufficient to reduce PDK1 activity. Taken together, our results suggest that PDK1 phosphorylation of Ser163 may provide a mechanism to fine-tune PDK1 activity and function in cells.

TAK1 (transforming growth factor beta-activated kinase 1) is a serine/threonine kinase that is a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase and an essential intracellular signaling component in inflammatory signaling pathways. Upon stimulation of cells with inflammatory cytokines, TAK1 binds proteins that stimulate autophosphorylation within its activation loop and is thereby catalytically activated. This activation is transient; it peaks within a couple of minutes and is subsequently down-regulated rapidly to basal levels. The mechanism of down-regulation of TAK1 has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we found that toxin inhibition of type 2A protein phosphatases greatly enhances interleukin 1 (IL-1)-dependent phosphorylation of Thr-187 in the TAK1 activation loop as well as the catalytic activity of TAK1. From proteomic analysis of TAK1-binding proteins, we identified protein phosphatase 6 (PP6), a type-2A phosphatase, and demonstrated that PP6 associated with and inactivated TAK1 by dephosphorylation of Thr-187. Ectopic and endogenous PP6 co-precipitated with TAK1, and expression of PP6 reduced IL-1 activation of TAK1 but did not affect osmotic activation of MLK3, another MAPKKK. Reduction of PP6 expression by small interfering RNA enhances IL-1-induced phosphorylation of Thr-187 in TAK1. Enhancement occurred without change in levels of PP2A showing specificity for PP6. Our results demonstrate that PP6 specifically down-regulates TAK1 through dephosphorylation of Thr-187 in the activation loop, which is likely important for suppressing inflammatory responses via TAK1 signaling pathways.

Akt is a Ser/Thr protein kinase that plays a central role in metabolism and cancer. Regulation of Akt’s activity involves an autoinhibitory intramolecular interaction between its pleckstrin homology (PH) domain and its kinase domain that can be relieved by C-tail phosphorylation. PH domain mutant E17K Akt is a well-established oncogene. Previously, we reported that the conformation of autoinhibited Akt may be shifted by small molecule allosteric inhibitors limiting the mechanistic insights from existing X-ray structures that have relied on such compounds (Chu et al., 2020). Here, we discover unexpectedly that a single mutation R86A Akt exhibits intensified autoinhibitory features with enhanced PH domain-kinase domain affinity. Structural and biochemical analysis uncovers the importance of a key interaction network involving Arg86, Glu17, and Tyr18 that controls Akt conformation and activity. Our studies also shed light on the molecular basis for E17K Akt activation as an oncogenic driver.

Phosphorylation of DCC by ERK2 Is Facilitated by Direct Docking of the Receptor P1 Domain to the Kinase

The mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases are characterized by their requirement for dual phosphorylation at a conserved threonine and tyrosine residue for catalytic activation. The structural consequences of dual-phosphorylation in the MAP kinase ERK2 (extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2) include active site closure, alignment of key catalytic residues that interact with ATP, and remodeling of the activation loop. In this study, we report the specific effects of dual phosphorylation on the individual catalytic reaction steps in ERK2. Dual phosphorylation leads to an increase in overall catalytic efficiency and turnover rate of approximately 600,000- and 50,000-fold, respectively. Solvent viscosometric studies reveal moderate decreases in the equilibrium dissociation constants (K(d)) for both ATP and myelin basic protein. However, the majority of the overall rate enhancement is due to an increase in the rate of the phosphoryl group transfer step by approximately 60,000-fold. By comparison, the rate of the same step in the ATPase reaction is enhanced only 2000-fold. This suggests that optimizing the position of the invariant residues Lys(52) and Glu(69), which stabilize the phosphates of ATP, accounts for only part of the enhanced rate of phosphoryl group transfer in the kinase reaction. Thus, significant stabilization of the protein phosphoacceptor group must also occur. Our results demonstrate similarities between the activation mechanisms of ERK2 and the cell cycle control enzyme, Cdk2 (cyclin-dependent kinase 2). Rather than dual phosphorylation, however, activation of the latter is controlled by cyclin binding followed by phosphorylation at Thr(160).