The structure of phosphorylated p38gamma is monomeric and reveals a conserved activation-loop conformation.

BACKGROUND: Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases mediate the cellular response to stimuli such as pro-inflammatory cytokines and environmental stress. P38gamma is a new member of the MAP kinase family, and is expressed at its highest levels in skeletal muscle. P38gamma is 63% identical in sequence to P38alpha. The structure of P38alpha MAP kinase has been determined in the apo, unphosphorylated, inactive form. The structures of apo unphosphorylated ERK2, a related MAP kinase, and apo phosphorylated ERK2 have also been determined. RESULTS: We have determined the structure of doubly phosphorylated P38gamma in complex with an ATP analog by X-ray crystallography. This is the first report of a structure of an activated kinase in the P38 subfamily, and the first bound to a nucleotide. P38gamma residue phosphoryl-Thr183 forms hydrogen bonds with five basic amino acids, and these interactions induce an interdomain rotation. The conformation of the activation loop of P38gamma is almost identical to that observed in the structure of activated ERK2. However, unlike ERK2, the crystal structure and solution studies indicate that activated P38gamma exists as a monomer. CONCLUSIONS: Interactions mediated by phosphoryl-Thr183 induce structural changes that direct the domains and active-site residues of P38gamma into a conformation consistent with catalytic activity. The conformation of the phosphorylation loop is likely to be similar in all activated MAP kinases, but not all activated MAP kinases form dimers.

Preliminary analysis of multiple crystal forms of the bovine cyclophilin-cyclosporin A complex.

The immunosuppressant cyclosporin-A (CsA) has been crystallized in complex with the bovine form of its major receptor protein cyclophilin (CyP) in three different forms by the hanging-drop vapor diffusion method. A hexagonal crystal form (P6(1)22 or P6(5)22; a = b = 110 A, c = 440 A) diffracts to 4 A resolution. Orthorhombic (P2(1)2(1)2(1) or P2(1)2(1)2; a = 154.3 A, b = 163.3 A, c = 94.7 A), and monoclinic (P2(1); a = 70.0 A, b = 162.5 A, c = 94.7, beta = 100.0 degrees) forms diffract to 2.2 A resolution. Self-rotation function analysis of the orthorhombic and monoclinic forms shows 52 point group local symmetry for both. A previously reported tetragonal crystal form of the complex also shares this local symmetry, suggesting that the observed motif may pre-exist in solution.

The structural basis for the specificity of pyridinylimidazole inhibitors of p38 MAP kinase.

BACKGROUND: The p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase regulates signal transduction in response to environmental stress. Pyridinylimidazole compounds are specific inhibitors of p38 MAP kinase that block the production of the cytokines interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha, and they are effective in animal models of arthritis, bone resorption and endotoxin shock. These compounds have been useful probes for studying the physiological functions of the p38-mediated MAP kinase pathway. RESULTS: We report the crystal structure of a novel pyridinylimidazole compound complexed with p38 MAP kinase, and we demonstrate that this compound binds to the same site on the kinase as does ATP. Mutagenesis showed that a single residue difference between p38 MAP kinase and other MAP kinases is sufficient to confer selectivity among pyridinylimidazole compounds. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reveal how pyridinylimidazole compounds are potent and selective inhibitors of p38 MAP kinase but not other MAP kinases. It should now be possible to design other specific inhibitors of activated p38 MAP kinase using the structure of the nonphosphorylated enzyme.

Kinetic mechanism and ATP-binding site reactivity of p38gamma MAP kinase.

Activated p38gamma MAP kinase exhibited significant basal ATPase activity in the absence of a kinase substrate, and addition of a phosphoacceptor substrate increased k(cat)/K(m)20-fold. AMP-PCP was competitive with ATP binding and non-competitive with phosphoacceptor substrate binding. The nucleotide binding site affinity label 5'-(p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl)adenosine (FSBA) bound stoichiometrically at Lys-56 in the ATP site of both unphosphorylated and activated p38gamma. AMP-PCP only protected the activated enzyme from FSBA inactivation, implying that AMP-PCP does not bind unphosphorylated p38gamma. Basal ATPase activities were also observed for activated p38alpha, ERK2 and JNK3 suggesting that the enzymatic mechanism may be similar for all classes of MAP kinases.

Some anthropometric measures on an Irish population.

Data for 11 dimensions relevant to workplace design were collected on 164 male workers who worked in the electronics, photographic machines, household goods and precision engineering manufacturing industries. Data differed significantly in several cases from published values for a US civilian population. Pheasant's ratios for estimation were found to give results about as good as those obtained from a three-variable multiple regression procedure. Estimation parameters for both approaches are presented with a summary of the measured values obtained.

Probing hydration contributions to the thermodynamics of ligand binding by proteins. Enthalpy and heat capacity changes of tacrolimus and rapamycin binding to FK506 binding protein in D2O and H2O.

The stabilities of native proteins and protein-ligand complexes result from differential interactions among numerous polar and nonpolar atoms within the proteins and ligands and of these atoms with water. Delineation of the various energetic contributions of the stabilities of proteins or protein-ligand complexes in aqueous solution, and an evaluation of their structural basis, requires a direct account of the changes, in the interactions of the protein with the solvent, that accompany the folding or binding reactions. Two largely nonpolar, structurally related macrolide ligands, tacrolimus (also known as FK506) and rapamycin, each bind with high affinity to a common site on a small FK506 binding protein (FKBP-12) and inhibit its peptidylprolyl cis-trans-isomerase activity. In an effort to elucidate the influence of water on the thermodynamics of their binding reactions, we have measured the enthalpies of tacrolimus and rapamycin binding to FKBP-12, in buffered solutions of H2O (at pH 7.0) or D2O (at pD 7.0), by high-precision titration calorimetry in the temperature range 5-30 degrees C. For both tacrolimus and rapamycin binding, a large enthalpic destabilization of binding is observed in D2O relative to H2O, in the temperature range examined. Additionally, large negative constant pressure heat capacity changes are observed for the binding of the ligands in both H2O and D2O. A thermodynamic analysis is presented to identify the structural determinants of the differences in the energetics of binding in light and heavy water. The analysis suggests that a chief contributor to the observed enthalpic destabilization is the differential hydration, of protein and ligand atoms, by light and heavy water.

Solution structure of the major binding protein for the immunosuppressant FK506.

The major FK506 binding protein (FKBP, relative molecular mass approximately 11,800; Mr 11.8K) and cyclophilin (Mr approximately 17K) belong to a class of proteins termed immunophilins. Although unrelated at the amino-acid sequence level, they both possess peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activities which are inhibited by immunosuppressants that block signal transduction pathways leading to T-lymphocyte activation. FK506 and rapamycin strongly inhibit the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activity of FKBP, whereas cyclosporin A inhibits that of cyclophilin. The significance of this enzyme activity and the role of the immunophilins in immunoregulation is unknown. To understand better the function of the immunophilins and their interaction with inhibitors, we are investigating the solution structures of FKBP and FKBP-inhibitor complexes by multidimensional NMR methods. Here we report the solution conformation of FKBP, as generated by NMR, distance geometry and molecular dynamics methods. The regular secondary structure of FKBP is composed mainly of beta sheet (approximately 35%) with little helical structure (less than 10%). The hydrophobic core of the molecule, containing the buried side chains of six of the protein's nine aromatic amino acids, is enclosed by a five-stranded antiparallel beta sheet on one side, a loop and a short helix at residues 51-56 and 57-65, and an aperiodic loop at residues 81-95. Examination of the structure suggests a possible site of interaction with FK506.

Kinetic mechanism of the p38-alpha MAP kinase: phosphoryl transfer to synthetic peptides.

p38 is a member of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase family. Activation (phosphorylation) of p38 acts as a switch for the transcriptional and translational regulation of a number of proteins, including the proinflammatory cytokines. Investigation of a set of small peptides revealed that, as with protein substrates, p38-alpha behaves as a proline-directed Ser/Thr MAP kinase for a peptide substrate, peptide 4 (IPTSPITTTYFFFKKK). We investigated the steady-state kinetic mechanism of the p38-alpha-catalyzed kinase reaction with EGF receptor peptide, peptide 1, as a substrate. Lineweaver-Burk analysis of the substrate kinetics yielded a family of lines intersecting to the left of the ordinate, with either ATP or peptide 1 as the varied substrate. Kinetic analysis in the presence of ADP yielded a competitive inhibition pattern when ATP was the varied substrate and a noncompetitive pattern if peptide 1 was the varied substrate. At saturating peptide substrate concentrations, inhibition by phosphopeptide product yielded an uncompetitive pattern when ATP was the varied substrate. These data are consistent with ordered binding with ATP as the initial substrate. We provide further evidence of the existence of a productive p38.ATP binary complex in that (a) activated p38-alpha has intrinsic ATPase activity, (b) ATPase and kinase activities are coupled, and (c) inhibitors of ATPase activity also inhibit the kinase activity with a similar inhibition constant. The k(cat) for the kinase reaction was lowered by 1.8-fold when ATP-gamma-S was used. Microviscosity linearly affected the k(cat) values of both the ATP and ATP-gamma-S reactions with a slope of about 0.8. These observations were interpreted to mean that the phosphoryl transfer step is not rate-limiting and that the release of product and/or enzyme isomerization is a possible rate-limiting step(s).

Crystal structure of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase.

p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase is activated by environmental stress and cytokines and plays a role in transcriptional regulation and inflammatory responses. The crystal structure of the apo, unphosphorylated form of p38 kinase has been solved at 2.3 A resolution. The fold and topology of p38 is similar to ERK2 (Zhang, F., Strand, A., Robbins, D., Cobb, M. H., and Goldsmith, E. J. (1994) Nature 367, 704-711). The relative orientation of the two domains of p38 kinase is different from that observed in the active form of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The twist results in a misalignment of the active site of p38, suggesting that the orientation of the domains would have to change before catalysis could proceed. The residues that are phosphorylated upon activation of p38 are located on a surface loop that occupies the peptide binding channel. Occlusion of the active site by the loop, and misalignment of catalytic residues, may account for the low enzymatic activity of unphosphorylated p38 kinase.

X-ray structure of calcineurin inhibited by the immunophilin-immunosuppressant FKBP12-FK506 complex.

The X-ray structure of the ternary complex of a calcineurin A fragment, calcineurin B, FKBP12, and the immunosuppressant drug FK506 (also known as tacrolimus) has been determined at 2.5 A resolution, providing a description of how FK506 functions at the atomic level. In the structure, the FKBP12-FK506 binary complex does not contact the phosphatase active site on calcineurin A that is more than 10 A removed. Instead, FKBP12-FK506 is so positioned that it can inhibit the dephosphorylation of its macromolecular substrates by physically hindering their approach to the active site. The ternary complex described here represents the three-dimensional structure of a Ser/Thr protein phosphatase and provides a structural basis for understanding calcineurin inhibition by FKBP12-FK506.

Comparative X-ray structures of the major binding protein for the immunosuppressant FK506 (tacrolimus) in unliganded form and in complex with FK506 and rapamycin.

FK506 (tacrolimus) is a natural product now approved in the US and Japan for organ transplantation. FK506, in complex with its 12 kDa cytosolic receptor (FKBP12), is a potent agonist of immunosuppression through the inhibition of the phosphatase activity of calcineurin. Rapamycin (sirolimus), which is itself an immunosuppressant by a different mechanism, completes with FK506 for binding to FKBP12 and thereby acts as an antagonist of calcineurin inhibition. We have solved the X-ray structure of unliganded FKBP12 and of FKBP12 in complex with FK506 and with rapamycin; these structures show localized differences in conformation and mobility in those regions of the protein that are known, by site-directed mutagenesis, to be involved in calcineurin inhibition. A comparison of 16 additional X-ray structures of FKBP12 in complex with FKBP12-binding ligands, where those structures were determined from different crystal forms with distinct packing arrangements, lends significance to the observed structural variability and suggests that it represents an intrinsic functional characteristic of the protein. Similar differences have been observed for FKBP12 before, but were considered artifacts of crystal-packing interactions. We suggest that immunosuppressive ligands express their differential effects in part by modulating the conformation of FKBP12, in agreement with mutagenesis experiments on the protein, and not simply through differences in the ligand structures themselves.

Enthalpy of hydrogen bond formation in a protein-ligand binding reaction.

Parallel measurements of the thermodynamics (free-energy, enthalpy, entropy and heat-capacity changes) of ligand binding to FK506 binding protein (FKBP-12) in H2O and D2O have been performed in an effort to probe the energetic contributions of single protein-ligand hydrogen bonds formed in the binding reactions. Changing tyrosine-82 to phenylalanine in FKBP-12 abolishes protein-ligand hydrogen bond interactions in the FKBP-12 complexes with tacrolimus or rapamycin and leads to a large apparent enthalpic stabilization of binding in both H2O and D2O. High-resolution crystallographic analysis reveals that two water molecules bound to the tyrosine-82 hydroxyl group in unliganded FKBP-12 are displaced upon formation of the protein-ligand complexes. A thermodynamic analysis is presented that suggests that the removal of polar atoms from water contributes a highly unfavorable enthalpy change to the formation of C=O...HO hydrogen bonds as they occur in the processes of protein folding and ligand binding. Despite the less favorable enthalpy change, the entropic advantage of displacing two water molecules upon binding leads to a slightly more favorable free-energy change of binding in the reactions with wild-type FKBP-12.