Chronic morphine exposure and its abstinence alters dendritic spine morphology and upregulates Shank1

Exposure to chronic drugs of abuse has been reported to produce significant changes in postsynaptic protein profile, dendritic spine morphology and synaptic transmission. In the present study we demonstrate alterations in dendritic spine morphology in the frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of mice following chronic morphine treatment as well as during abstinence for two months. Such alterations were accompanied with significant upregulation of the postsynaptic protein Shank1 in synaptosomal enriched fractions. mRNA levels of Shank1 was also markedly increased during morphine treatment and during withdrawal. Studies of the different postsynaptic proteins at the protein and mRNA levels showed significant alterations in the morphine treated groups compared to that of saline treated controls. Taken together, these observations suggest that Shank1 may have an important role in the regulation of spine morphology induced by chronic morphine leading to addiction.     

Functional role of GKAP1 in the regulation of male germ cell spontaneous apoptosis and sperm number

G kinase‐anchoring protein 1 (GKAP1) is a G kinase‐associated protein that is conserved in many eutherians and is mainly expressed in the testis, especially in spermatocytes and round spermatids. The function of GKAP1 in the testis is largely unknown. Here, we revealed that deletion of GKAP1 led to an increase in sperm production with swollen epididymis, and germ cell apoptosis was found to decrease in GKAP1 knock‐out mice. Further investigations showed that a deficiency of GKAP1 could partly change the cellular location of cGK‐Iα and increase the amount of active cAMP response element‐binding protein (CREB) in the nucleus. Therefore, the expression of a particular inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) was upregulated because of the activation of CREB, and this increase in IAPs was associated with a decrease in the level of activated caspase‐3. These results suggest that a deficiency of GKAP1 in mouse testis could increase sperm production through a reduction of the spontaneous apoptosis of germ cells in the testis, possibly because of a change in the activity of the cGK‐Iα pathway.     

The structural flexibility of the shank1 PDZ domain is important for its binding to different ligands

The PDZ domain of the shank protein interacts with numerous cell membrane receptors and cytosolic proteins via the loosely defined binding motif X-(Ser/Thr)-X-Φ-COOH (Φ represents hydrophobic residues) at the carboxyl terminus of its target protein. This enables shank to serve as a membrane-associated scaffold for the assembly of signaling complexes. As the list of proteins that bind to the shank PDZ domain grows, it is not immediately clear what structural element(s) mediate this domain’s target specificity or the plasticity required to bind its different targets. Here, we have determined the crystal structure of the shank1 PDZ in complex with the βPIX C-terminal pentapeptide (642–646, DETNL) at 2.3 Å resolution and modeled shank1 PDZ binding to selected pentapeptide ligands. The resulting structures revealed a large hydrophobic pocket within the PDZ domain that can accommodate a variety of ligand residues at the P(0) position. A H-bond between His735 and Ser/Thr at the P(−2) position is invariant throughout the model structures. In addition, we identified multiple PDZ domain residues that are able to form H-bonds and salt bridges with an incoming target protein. Overall, our study provides a new level of understanding of the specificity and structural plasticity of the shank PDZ domain.     

Structural Basis for Asymmetric Association of the βPIX Coiled Coil and Shank PDZ

βPIX (p21-activated kinase interacting exchange factor) and Shank/ProSAP protein form a complex acting as a protein scaffold that integrates signaling pathways and regulates postsynaptic structure. Complex formation is mediated by the C-terminal PDZ binding motif of βPIX and the Shank PDZ domain. The coiled-coil (CC) domain upstream of the PDZ binding motif allows multimerization of βPIX, which is important for its physiological functions. We have solved the crystal structure of the βPIX CC-Shank PDZ complex and determined the stoichiometry of complex formation. The βPIX CC forms a 76-Å-long parallel CC trimer. Despite the fact that the βPIX CC exposes three PDZ binding motifs in the C-termini, the βPIX trimer associates with a single Shank PDZ. One of the C-terminal ends of the CC forms an extensive β-sheet interaction with the Shank PDZ, while the other two ends are not involved in ligand binding and form random coils. The two C-terminal ends of βPIX have significantly lower affinity than the first PDZ binding motif due to the steric hindrance in the C-terminal tails, which results in binding of a single PDZ domain to the βPIX trimer. The structure shows canonical class I PDZ binding with a β-sheet interaction extending to position − 6 of βPIX. The βB-βC loop of Shank PDZ undergoes a conformational change upon ligand binding to form the β-sheet interaction and to accommodate the bulky side chain of Trp − 5. This structural study provides a clear picture of the molecular recognition of the PDZ ligand and the asymmetric association of βPIX CC and Shank PDZ.     

FAK and PYK2 interact with SAP90/PSD-95-Associated Protein-3

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2) are two related non-receptor tyrosine kinases highly expressed in brain. Although they are both involved in synaptic plasticity, little is known about their specific neuronal partners. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen and GST pull-down assays we show that SAPAP3 (SAP90/PSD-95-Associated Protein-3) interacts with FAK (residues 676-840) and PYK2. The three proteins partly co-distribute in the same sucrose gradient fractions as the post-synaptic density protein PSD-95 and Src. Our results suggest that SAPAP3 is an anchoring protein for FAK and PYK2 in post-synaptic densities and may contribute to the synaptic function of these tyrosine kinases.     

Structure of the GH1 domain of guanylate kinase-associated protein from Rattus norvegicus

Guanylate-kinase-associated protein (GKAP) is a scaffolding protein that links NMDA receptor-PSD-95 to Shank–Homer complexes by protein–protein interactions at the synaptic junction. GKAP family proteins are characterized by the presence of a C-terminal conserved GKAP homology domain 1 (GH1) of unknown structure and function. In this study, crystal structure of the GH1 domain of GKAP from Rattus norvegicus was determined in fusion with an N-terminal maltose-binding protein at 2.0 Å resolution. The structure of GKAP GH1 displays a three-helix bundle connected by short flexible loops. The predicted helix α4 which was not visible in the crystal structure associates weakly with the helix α3 suggesting dynamic nature of the GH1 domain. The strict conservation of GH1 domain across GKAP family members and the lack of a catalytic active site required for enzyme activity imply that the GH1 domain might serve as a protein–protein interaction module for the synaptic protein clustering.     

Scaffold protein Homer 1: Implications for neurological diseases

Homer proteins are commonly known as scaffold proteins at postsynaptic density. Homer 1 is a widely studied member of the Homer protein family, comprising both synaptic structure and mediating postsynaptic signaling transduction. Both an immediate-early gene encoding a Homer 1 variant and a constitutively expressed Homer 1 variant regulate receptor clustering and trafficking, intracellular calcium homeostasis, and intracellular molecule complex formation. Substantial preclinical investigations have implicated that each of these Homer 1 variants are associated with the etiology of many neurological diseases, such as pain, mental retardation syndromes, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, drug-induced addiction, and traumatic brain injury.     

Guanylate kinase domains of the MAGUK family scaffold proteins as specific phospho-protein-binding modules

Membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUKs) are a large family of scaffold proteins that play essential roles in tissue developments, cell-cell communications, cell polarity control, and cellular signal transductions. Despite extensive studies over the past two decades, the functions of the signature guanylate kinase domain (GK) of MAGUKs are poorly understood. Here we show that the GK domain of DLG1/SAP97 binds to asymmetric cell division regulatory protein LGN in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. The structure of the DLG1 SH3-GK tandem in complex with a phospho-LGN peptide reveals that the GMP-binding site of GK has evolved into a specific pSer/pThr-binding pocket. Residues both N- and C-terminal to the pSer are also critical for the specific binding of the phospho-LGN peptide to GK. We further demonstrate that the previously reported GK domain-mediated interactions of DLGs with other targets, such as GKAP/DLGAP1/SAPAP1 and SPAR, are also phosphorylation dependent. Finally, we provide evidence that other MAGUK GKs also function as phospho-peptide-binding modules. The discovery of the phosphorylation-dependent MAGUK GK/target interactions indicates that MAGUK scaffold-mediated signalling complex organizations are dynamically regulated.