The ribosomal S6 kinase 2 (RSK2)-SPRED2 complex regulates the phosphorylation of RSK substrates and MAPK signaling.

Sprouty-related EVH-1 domain-containing (SPRED) proteins are a family of proteins that negatively regulate the RAS-Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathway, which is involved in the regulation of the mitogenic response and cell proliferation. However, the mechanism by which these proteins affect RAS-MAPK signaling has not been elucidated. Patients with mutations in SPRED give rise to unique disease phenotypes; thus, we hypothesized that distinct interactions across SPRED proteins may account for alternative nodes of regulation. To characterize the SPRED interactome and evaluate how members of the SPRED family function through unique binding partners, we performed affinity purification mass spectrometry. We identified 90-kDa ribosomal S6 kinase 2 (RSK2) as a specific interactor of SPRED2 but not SPRED1 or SPRED3. We identified that the N-terminal kinase domain of RSK2 mediates the interaction between amino acids 123 to 201 of SPRED2. Using X-ray crystallography, we determined the structure of the SPRED2-RSK2 complex and identified the SPRED2 motif, F145A, as critical for interaction. We found that the formation of this interaction is regulated by MAPK signaling events. We also find that this interaction between SPRED2 and RSK2 has functional consequences, whereby the knockdown of SPRED2 resulted in increased phosphorylation of RSK substrates, YB1 and CREB. Furthermore, SPRED2 knockdown hindered phospho-RSK membrane and nuclear subcellular localization. We report that disruption of the SPRED2-RSK complex has effects on RAS-MAPK signaling dynamics. Our analysis reveals that members of the SPRED family have unique protein binding partners and describes the molecular and functional determinants of SPRED2-RSK2 complex dynamics.

Engineering the transposition-based baculovirus expression vector system for higher efficiency protein production from insect cells.

One of the most common methods for producing recombinant baculovirus for insect cell protein production involves a transposition mediated system invented over 2 decades ago. This Tn7-mediated system, commercially sold as Bac-to-Bac, has proven highly useful for construction of high quality baculovirus, but suffers from a number of drawbacks which reduce the efficiency of the process and limit its utility for high throughput protein production processes. We describe here the creation of Bac-2-the-Future, a 2nd generation Tn7-based system for recombinant baculovirus production which uses optimized expression vectors, new E. coli strains, and enhanced protocols to dramatically enhance the efficiency of the baculovirus production process. The new system which we describe eliminates the need for additional screening of positive clones, improves the efficiency of transposition, and reduces the cost and time required for high throughput baculovirus production. The system is compatible with multiple cloning methodologies, and has been demonstrated to produce baculovirus with equal or better titer and protein productivity than the currently available systems.

Combinatorial assembly of clone libraries using site-specific recombination.

Generation of DNA clones for use in proteomic and genomic research often requires a significant level of parallel production, as the number of downstream options for these experiments increases. Where a single fluorescently tagged construct may have sufficed before, there is now the need for multiple types of labels for different readouts and different assays. Protein expression, which once utilized a very small set of vectors because of low throughput expression and purification, has now rapidly matured into a high throughput system in which dozens of conditions can be tested in parallel to identify the best candidate clones. This has returned the bottleneck in many of these technologies to the generation of DNA clones, and standard cloning techniques often dramatically limit the throughput and success of such processes. In order to overcome this bottleneck, higher-throughput and more parallel cloning processes need to be developed which would allow rapid, inexpensive production of final clones. In addition, there is a strong need to utilize standardized elements to avoid unnecessarily remaking fragments of clones that could be used in multiple constructs. The advent of recombinational cloning helped to increase the parallel processing of DNA clones, but was still limited by the need to generate different vector backbones for each specific need. The solution to this problem emerged with the introduction of combinatorial approaches to clone construction, based on either homologous or site-specific recombination processes. In particular, the Gateway Multisite system provides all of the necessary components for a highly parallel, inexpensive, rapid, and diverse platform for clone construction in many areas of proteomic and genomic research. Here we describe our optimized system for combinatorial cloning, including improvements in cloning protocols and construct design that permit users to easily generate libraries of clones which can be combined in parallel to create an unlimited number of final constructs. The system is capable of utilizing the tens of thousands of commercially available Gateway clones already in existence, and allows easy adaptation of most DNA vectors to the system.