Molecular cloning and characterization of FHL2, a novel LIM domain protein preferentially expressed in human heart

A full-length cDNA clone encoding a novel LIM-only protein was isolated and sequenced from a human fetal heart cDNA library. This full-length clone consists of 1416 base pairs and has a predicted open reading frame (ORF) encoding 279 amino acids. The ORF of this polypeptide codes for the human heart-specific

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our and a

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alf

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IM-only protein

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(FHL2). It possesses an extra zinc finger that is a half LIM domain and four repeats of LIM domain. When the human FHL2 cDNA probe was used to hybridize with poly-A RNA of various human tissues, a very strong signal could be seen in heart tissues, and only moderately low signals could be detected in placenta, skeletal muscle and ovary. Virtually no signal could be detected in brain, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen, thymus, prostate, testis, small intestine, colon or peripheral blood leukocyte. FHL2 was mapped to chromosome 2q12–q13 by fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH).     

Zinc finger protein overexpressed in colon carcinoma interacts with the telomeric protein hRap1

The OZF (ZNF146) protein is a 33 kDa Kruppel protein, composed solely of 10 zinc finger motifs. It is overexpressed in the majority of pancreatic cancers and in more than 80% of colorectal cancers. We found an interaction between OZF and the telomeric hRap1 protein with a yeast two-hybrid screen. hRap1 (TERF2IP) is an ortholog of the yeast telomeric protein, scRap1 originally identified as a regulator of telomere length. In HeLa cells, it interacts with TRF2, a telomere repeat binding factor whose inactivation causes a dysregulation of telomere length and structure. Immunoprecipitation with anti-hRap1 antibodies in conditions that allow the purification of proteins associated with hRap1, demonstrated that OZF binds to hRap1 in HeLa cells. Using deletion mutants, we mapped the interacting domain of each protein. The three zinc fingers at the C-terminus of OZF interact with a region of hRap1 located downstream of the coil domain. It involves a stretch of at least 25 amino acids at the C-terminus of hRap1 that interact with TRF2. This suggests that OZF overexpression in tumours may alter the balance between hRap1 and other telomeric proteins and therefore that OZF function may be linked to telomere regulation.     

棉花锌指蛋白GhZFP1相互作用蛋白的酵母双杂交筛选

GhZFP1蛋白是从盐胁迫棉花幼苗cDNA文库中分离的一种CCCH型锌指蛋白.初步的生物学功能研究表明,过量表达该基因的转基因烟草耐盐性和抗病性显著提高.为深入研究GhZFP1蛋白的作用机制,构建pGBKT7-m1诱饵表达载体,利用酵母双杂交系统从盐胁迫诱导棉花cDNA文库中筛选与其相互作用的蛋白.通过阳性克隆的表型确定、PCR和限制性内切酶检测以及测序和生物信息学分析,获得9个与诱饵蛋白相互作用的靶蛋白.双分子荧光互补实验证明,GhZFP1与GZIRD19A确实存在互作关系.通过分析这些靶蛋白的已知功能,为研究GhZFP1锌指蛋白的未知生物学功能提供重要信息.     

脑红蛋白与Na^＋，K^＋-ATP酶β2亚基的相互作用及作用位点的鉴定

为研究神经系统特异性携氧蛋白———脑红蛋白 (NGB)保护神经元耐受缺氧损伤的分子机制 ,利用酵母双杂交系统从人胎脑cDNA文库中筛选与其有相互作用的蛋白质。序列分析表明 ,其中一个克隆的编码产物与Na ,K ATP酶 β2亚基 (NKA1b2 )序列一致。随后采用PCR方法从人胎脑cDNA文库中扩增获得NKA1b2全长cDNA。蛋白质结合实验表明 ,原核表达的NGB与体外转录翻译得到的NKA1b2在细胞外有结合作用。免疫共沉淀实验证明二者在生理条件下能够以复合物的形式存在。利用NGB系列短截体研究相互作用的位点发现 ,NGB蛋白N末端 1～ 75位氨基酸可与NKA1b2结合 ,但结合力很弱 ,而其C末端 75个氨基酸则与NKA1b2无结合作用 ,由此推测NGB蛋白整体的三维结构是结合所必需的。     

酵母双杂交系统在膜蛋白相互作用研究中的应用

膜相关蛋白约占细胞总蛋白质中的1/3,它们大都参与了细胞的诸多生理、病理过程和药物反应机理。研究膜蛋白的相互作用对于揭示细胞的生命活动规律及寻找药物作用靶标都有重要的意义。由于膜蛋白本身的特性及其难以进入核内等原因,经典的酵母双杂交技术并不适用于检测膜蛋白间的相互作用。针对在活细胞中研究膜蛋白相互作用的需要,近年来国际上先后发展了一系列用于膜蛋白相互作用研究的酵母双杂交新系统,并取得了许多重要发现。     

OsBP-5与OsEBP-89两蛋白之间相互作用区域的确定

OsBP-5(MYC类转录因子)与OsEBP-89(AP2/EREBP类转录因子)两个蛋白之间可以相互作用,并能协同调控水稻waxy基因的表达.将OsBP-5与OsEBP-89 cDNA的不同限制性片段分别克隆到酵母双杂交系统的载体上,利用酵母双杂交的方法确定了OsEBP-89中与OsBP-5相互作用的区域位于AP2/EREBP保守域的RAYD元件内;OsBP-5中与OsEBP-89相互作用的区域则有两个区段,它们分别位于Pro68与Val171之间和Leu284与Gly335之间,而不是位于HLH保守域内.酵母系统中的实验还表明,OsEBP-89的3′端部分氨基酸在一定程度上防碍了它与OsBP-5蛋白的相互作用.     

Modeling and analysis of molecularinteraction between Smurf1-WW2 domain and various isoforms of LIM mineralization protein

LIM Mineralization Protein-1 (LMP-1) has been cloned and shown to be osteoinductive. Our efforts to understand the mode of action of LMP-1 led to the determination that LMP-1 interacts with Smad Ubiquitin Regulatory Factor-1 (Smurf1). Smurf1 targets osteogenic Smads, Smad1/5, for ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation. Smurf1 interaction with LMP-1 or Smads is based on the presence of unique WW-domain interacting motif in these target molecules. By performing site-directed mutagenesis and binding studies in vitro on purified recombinant proteins, we identified a specific motif within the osteogenic region of several LMP isoforms that is necessary for Smurf1 interaction. Similarly, we have identified that the WW2 domain of Smurf1 is necessary for target protein interaction. Here, we present a homology-based modeling of the Smurf1 WW2 domain and its interacting motif of LMP-1. We performed computational docking of the interacting domains in Smurf1 and LMPs to identify the key amino acid residues involved in their binding regions. In support of the computational predictions, we also present biochemical evidence supporting the hypothesis that the physical interaction of Smurf1 and osteoinductive forms of LMP may prevent Smurf1 from targeting osteogenic Smads by ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation.     

Conformational states of the glucocorticoid receptor DNA-binding domain from molecular dynamics simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations (MD) have been performed on variant crystal and NMR-derived structures of the glucocorticoid receptor DNA-binding domain (GR DBD). A loop region five residues long, the so-called D-box, exhibits significant flexibility, and transient perturbations of the tetrahedral geometry of two structurally important Cys4 zinc finger are seen, coupled to conformational changes in the D-box. In some cases, one of the Cys ligands to zinc exchanges with water, although no global distortion of the protein structure is observed. Thus, from MD simulation, dynamics of the D-box could partly be explained by solvent effects in conjunction with structural reformation of the zinc finger.     

Functional analyses of the Dof domain, a zinc finger DNA-binding domain, in a pumpkin DNA-binding protein AOBP

AOBP, a DNA-binding protein in pumpkin, contains a Dof domain that is composed of 52 amino acid residues and is highly conserved in several DNA-binding proteins of higher plants. The Dof domain has a significant resemblance to Cys2/Cys2 zinc finger DNA-binding domains of steroid hormone receptors and GATA1, but has a longer putative loop where an extra Cys residue is conserved. We show that the Dof domain in AOBP functions as a zinc finger DNA-binding domain and suggest that the Cys residue uniquely conserved in the putative loop might negatively regulate the binding to DNA.     

Identification of FAKTS as a novel 14-3-3-associated nuclear protein

Through bioinformatics and experimental approaches, we have assigned the first biochemical property to a predicted protein product in the human genome as a new 14-3-3 binding protein. 14-3-3 client proteins represent a diverse group of regulatory molecules that often function as signaling integrators in response to various environmental cues and include proteins such as Bad and Foxo. Using 14-3-3 as a probe in a yeast two-hybrid screen, we identified a novel 14-3-3 binding protein with unknown function, initially designated as clone 546. Confocal microscopy revealed that clone 546 localized to the nucleus of mammalian cells. Additional studies show that the gene encoding clone 546 is expressed in many human tissues, including the thymus, as well as a number of cancer cell lines. The interaction of clone 546 with 14-3-3 was confirmed in mammalian cells. Interestingly, this interaction was markedly enhanced by the expression of activated Akt/PKB, suggesting a phosphorylation dependent event. Mutational analysis was carried out to identify Ser479 as the predominant residue that mediates the clone 546/14-3-3 association. Phosphorylation of Ser479 by AKT/PKB further supports a critical role for Akt/PKB in regulation of the clone 546/14-3-3 interaction. On the basis of these findings, we named this undefined protein FAKTS: Fourteen-three-three associated AKT Substrate.     

原癌基因LMO3相互作用蛋白的筛选及鉴定

目的 通过筛选LMO3的相互作用蛋白,进一步了解LMO3的作用及可能机制。方法酵母双杂交方法筛选LMO3相瓦作用蛋白,并通过酵母结合试验、免疫共沉淀及荧光共定位等进行验证。结果在初步获得相互作用蛋白：钙-整合素结合蛋白（Calcium—and integrin—binding protein,CIB）的基础上,在酵母中证实了LMO3与CIB的相互作用,并通过酵母结合试验确定了CIB与LMO3的相互作用位点,发现CIB可与LMO3的第一个LIM结构域（LIMI）及全长LMO3结合,免疫共沉淀试验确证了它们可以在真核细胞内结合,荧光共定位表明与CIB的相互作用可使LMO3在C8细胞中的定位由细胞核移到细胞质。结论LMO3可以与CIB在真核细胞中发生相互作用,提示LMO3可能通过与CIB的相互作用参与细胞相关功能的调节。     

On the nature of cavities on protein surfaces: application to the identification of drug-binding sites

In this article we introduce a new method for the identification and the accurate characterization of protein surface cavities. The method is encoded in the program SCREEN (Surface Cavity REcognition and EvaluatioN). As a first test of the utility of our approach we used SCREEN to locate and analyze the surface cavities of a nonredundant set of 99 proteins cocrystallized with drugs. We find that this set of proteins has on average about 14 distinct cavities per protein. In all cases, a drug is bound at one (and sometimes more than one) of these cavities. Using cavity size alone as a criterion for predicting drug-binding sites yields a high balanced error rate of 15.7%, with only 71.7% coverage. Here we characterize each surface cavity by computing a comprehensive set of 408 physicochemical, structural, and geometric attributes. By applying modern machine learning techniques (Random Forests) we were able to develop a classifier that can identify drug-binding cavities with a balanced error rate of 7.2% and coverage of 88.9%. Only 18 of the 408 cavity attributes had a statistically significant role in the prediction. Of these 18 important attributes, almost all involved size and shape rather than physicochemical properties of the surface cavity. The implications of these results are discussed. A SCREEN Web server is available at http://interface.bioc.columbia.edu/screen.     

Improvement of bacterial two-hybrid vectors for detection of fusion proteins and transfer to pBAD-tandem affinity purification, calmodulin binding peptide, or 6-histidine tag vectors

The original vectors of the bacterial two-hybrid technique developed by Karimova et al. in 1998 did not enable detection of the recombinant proteins. Here, we propose two methods resolving this problem, either using new plasmids containing the Flag epitope, or using a trick to detect the T18 domain of adenylate cyclase. Furthermore, we describe a set of vectors for TAP, CBP or 6-histidine tagging that possess the same cloning site as our two-hybrid vectors.     

A method for reverse interactome analysis: High‐resolution mapping of interdomain interaction network in Dam1 complex and its specific disorganization based on the interaction domain expression

An experimental methodology that facilitates functional analysis of numerous protein–protein interactions, which have been found in genome‐wide interactome researches, has long been awaited. We propose herein an antagonistic inhibition‐based approach. The antagonizing polypeptide is generated in the course of interaction domain mapping based on yeast 2‐hybrid (Y2H) screening coupled with in vitro convergence of the Y2H‐selected fragments, which is performed in a formatted procedure. Using the coupled methodology, we first performed a high‐resolution mapping of an interdomain interaction network within budding yeast's Dam1 complex. Dam1 complex is a kinetochore protein complex composed of 10 essential subunits including Spc34p and Spc19p. The high‐resolution mapping revealed the overall network structure within the complex for the first time: Dam1 components form into two separated subnetworks on N‐terminal scaffolding domains of Spc34p and Spc19p, and the coiled‐coil interaction in their C‐terminal domains connects the subnetworks. Secondly, we show that the domain fragments converged in the high‐resolution mapping acted as potent inhibitors for the endogenous interactions when episomally overexpressed. The in vivo Dam1 interaction targeting with the fragments conferred a similar phenotype on the host cells; a critical and irreversible damage, which was accompanied with disturbed budding and chromosome mis‐segregation as a result of disorganized spindle. These phenotypes were strongly related to the cellular function of the Dam1 complex. The results and approach we demonstrated herein not only shed light on the Dam1 molecular architecture but also pave the road to reverse‐interactome analysis and discoveries of novel drugs that target disease‐related protein–protein interactions. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010