Mutation of FKBP associated protein 48 (FAP48) at proline 219 disrupts the interaction with FKBP12 and FKBP52

Immunophilins are known as intracellular receptors for the immunosuppressant drugs, cyclosporin A, FK506, and rapamycin. They can be divided into two groups, cyclophilins that bind cyclosporin A and FK506 binding proteins (FKBPs) that bind FK506 and rapamycin. Many efforts were made to elucidate the physiological role of the immunophilins. Many of them are involved in intracellular signalling as they bind to calcium channels or to steroid receptor complexes. A yeast two-hybrid screen was used to identify further target proteins that interact with known proteins. Recently, a 48-kDa FKBP associated protein (FAP48) was isolated that binds to FKBP12 and FKBP52. Binding of FAP48 to FKBPs is inhibited by the macrolide FK506 indicating that the binding sites on the immunophilins coincide with the binding site for FK506. A peptidyl-prolyl motif on FAP48 should be responsible for the binding of the protein to FKBPs. We sequentially point mutated proline sites on FAP48 and checked the mutant proteins for interaction with FKBP12 and FKBP52. Mutation of proline 219 to alanine leads to a loss of interaction indicating that a cysteinyl prolyl site might be responsible for the binding of FAP48 to FKBPs. Thus we identified proline 219 being essential for the interaction.