Structure and mechanism of BRCA1 BRCT domain recognition of phosphorylated BACH1 with implications for cancer.

Germline mutations in the BRCA1 tumor suppressor gene often result in a significant increase in susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancers. Although the molecular basis of their effects remains largely obscure, many mutations are known to target the highly conserved C-terminal BRCT repeats that function as a phosphoserine/phosphothreonine-binding module. We report the X-ray crystal structure at a resolution of 1.85 A of the BRCA1 tandem BRCT domains in complex with a phosphorylated peptide representing the minimal interacting region of the DEAH-box helicase BACH1. The structure reveals the determinants of this novel class of BRCA1 binding events. We show that a subset of disease-linked mutations act through specific disruption of phospho-dependent BRCA1 interactions rather than through gross structural perturbation of the tandem BRCT domains.

Polo-like kinase 1 creates the tension-sensing 3F3/2 phosphoepitope and modulates the association of spindle-checkpoint proteins at kinetochores.

BACKGROUND: In mitosis, a mechanochemical system recognizes tension that is generated by bipolar microtubule attachment to sister kinetochores. This is translated into multiple outputs including the stabilization of microtubule attachments, changes in kinetochore protein dynamics, and the silencing of the spindle checkpoint. How kinetochores sense tension and translate this into various signals represent critical unanswered questions. The kinetochores of chromosomes not under tension are specifically phosphorylated at an epitope recognized by the 3F3/2 monoclonal antibody. Determining the kinase that generates the 3F3/2 phosphoepitope at kinetochores should reveal an important component of this system that regulates mitotic progression. RESULTS: We demonstrate that Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) creates the 3F3/2 phosphoepitope on mitotic kinetochores. In a permeabilized in vitro cell system, the depletion of Xenopus Plk1 from M phase extract leads to the loss of 3F3/2 kinase activity. Purified recombinant Plk1 is sufficient to generate the 3F3/2 phosphoepitope in this system. Using siRNA, we show that the reduction of Plk1 protein levels significantly diminishes 3F3/2 phosphoepitope expression at kinetochores. The consensus phosphorylation sites of Plk1 show strong similarity to the 3F3/2 phosphoepitope sequence determined by phosphopeptide mapping. The inhibition of Plk1 by siRNA alters the normal kinetochore association of Mad2, Cenp-E, Hec1/Ndc80, Spc24, and Cdc20 and induces a spindle-checkpoint-mediated mitotic arrest. CONCLUSIONS: Plk1 generates the 3F3/2 phosphoepitope at kinetochores that are not under tension and contributes to the normal kinetochore association of several key proteins important in checkpoint signaling. Mechanical tension regulates Plk1 accumulation at kinetochores and possibly its kinase activity.

Screening kinase phosphorylation motifs using Peptide libraries.

INTRODUCTIONThis protocol describes a method for oriented peptide library screening. This method, combined with bioinformatics-based searches of protein sequence databases, provides a strategy for identifying substrates of particular protein kinases, including low-abundance proteins. In oriented peptide library screening, a very large number of peptides are synthesized simultaneously by solid-phase peptide synthesis, with all of the peptides containing either a single fixed Ser, Thr, or Tyr residue at an "orienting" position within the peptide sequence. The orienting residue in the collection of peptides serves as the phospho-acceptor during an in vitro phosphorylation reaction with the protein kinase of interest and is flanked by a series of degenerate positions, which contain a mixture of all possible amino acids. Only those peptides that contain favorable amino acids surrounding the fixed Ser, Thr, or Tyr residues will be preferentially phosphorylated by the kinase of interest. This subset of phosphorylated peptides can then be separated from the bulk of nonphosphorylated peptides using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). The recovered phosphopeptides are sequenced in bulk by Edman degradation. By comparing the amount of each amino acid at each position flanking the fixed Ser, Thr, or Tyr in the phosphorylated peptides with the amount of each amino acid in the starting peptide library mixture, the affinity of the kinase for each amino acid in each position in the sequence is revealed. The end result of this process is a matrix of selection values that describes, in quantitative terms, the relative importance of each amino acid at each position within the kinase substrate motif, as well as the optimal peptide substrate sequence for that kinase. The matrix of kinase selectivity values can be used to search protein sequence databases and identify potential substrate proteins that contain the closest matches to the optimal protein kinase phosphorylation motif. These putative substrates can then be examined in vitro and in vivo to determine whether they are, in fact, kinase substrates under physiological conditions.

MAPKAP kinase-2 is a cell cycle checkpoint kinase that regulates the G2/M transition and S phase progression in response to UV irradiation.

The cellular response to DNA damage is mediated by evolutionarily conserved Ser/Thr kinases, phosphorylation of Cdc25 protein phosphatases, binding to 14-3-3 proteins, and exit from the cell cycle. To investigate DNA damage responses mediated by the p38/stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) axis of signaling, the optimal phosphorylation motifs of mammalian p38alpha SAPK and MAPKAP kinase-2 were determined. The optimal substrate motif for MAPKAP kinase-2, but not for p38 SAPK, closely matches the 14-3-3 binding site on Cdc25B/C. We show that MAPKAP kinase-2 is directly responsible for Cdc25B/C phosphorylation and 14-3-3 binding in vitro and in response to UV-induced DNA damage within mammalian cells. Downregulation of MAPKAP kinase-2 eliminates DNA damage-induced G2/M, G1, and intra S phase checkpoints. We propose that MAPKAP kinase-2 is a new member of the DNA damage checkpoint kinase family that functions in parallel with Chk1 and Chk2 to integrate DNA damage signaling responses and cell cycle arrest in mammalian cells.

BRCT repeats as phosphopeptide-binding modules involved in protein targeting.

We used a proteomic approach to identify phosphopeptide-binding modules mediating signal transduction events in the DNA damage response pathway. Using a library of partially degenerate phosphopeptides, we identified tandem BRCT (BRCA1 carboxyl-terminal) domains in PTIP (Pax transactivation domain-interacting protein) and in BRCA1 as phosphoserine- or phosphothreonine-specific binding modules that recognize substrates phosphorylated by the kinases ATM (ataxia telangiectasia-mutated) and ATR (ataxia telangiectasia- and RAD3-related) in response to gamma-irradiation. PTIP tandem BRCT domains are responsible for phosphorylation-dependent protein localization into 53BP1- and phospho-H2AX (gamma-H2AX)-containing nuclear foci, a marker of DNA damage. These findings provide a molecular basis for BRCT domain function in the DNA damage response and may help to explain why the BRCA1 BRCT domain mutation Met1775 --> Arg, which fails to bind phosphopeptides, predisposes women to breast and ovarian cancer.