Coil-to-a-helix transition at the Nup358-BicD2 interfaceactivates BicD2 for dynein recruitment
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States
- Binghamton University, United States
- University of Vermont, United States
- Thomas Jefferson University, United States
Abstract
Nup358, a protein of the nuclear pore complex, facilitates a nuclear positioning pathway that is essential for many biological processes, including neuromuscular and brain development. Nup358 interacts with the dynein adaptor Bicaudal D2 (BicD2), which in turn recruits the dynein machinery to position the nucleus. However, the molecular mechanisms of the Nup358/BicD2 interaction and the activation of transport remain poorly understood. Here for the first time, we show that a minimal Nup358 domain activates dynein/dynactin/BicD2 for processive motility on microtubules. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) titration and chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST), mutagenesis and circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD), a Nup358 a-helix encompassing residues 2162-2184 was identified, which transitioned from a random coil to an a-helical conformation upon BicD2-binding and formed the core of the Nup358-BicD2 interface. Mutations in this region of Nup358 decreased the Nup358/BicD2 interaction, resulting in decreased dynein recruitment and impaired motility. BicD2 thus recognizes Nup358 though a 'cargo recognition a-helix', a structural feature that may stabilize BicD2 in its activated state and promote processive dynein motility.
Data availability
Protein backbone assignments have been deposited in the BMRB under accession code 5182. All other data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files; Source Data files have been provided for Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
NIH Office of the Director (R01 GM144578)
- M Yusuf Ali
- Sozanne R Solmaz
- Chunyu Wang
NIH Office of the Director (CA206592)
- Chunyu Wang
NIH Office of the Director (AG069039)
- Chunyu Wang
NIH Office of the Director (R15 GM128119)
- Sozanne R Solmaz
Chemistry Department and the Research Foundation of SUNY
- Sozanne R Solmaz
NIH Office of the Director (R35 GM136288)
- Kathleen M Trybus
NIH Office of the Director (R03 NS114115)
- M Yusuf Ali
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2022, Gibson et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 1,912
- views
-
- 263
- downloads
-
- 18
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Download links
A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.
Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)
Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)
Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)
Coil-to-a-helix transition at the Nup358-BicD2 interfaceactivates BicD2 for dynein recruitment
eLife 11:e74714.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.74714
Further reading
-
- Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
- Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
African trypanosomes are the causative agents of neglected tropical diseases affecting both humans and livestock. Disease control is highly challenging due to an increasing number of drug treatment failures. African trypanosomes are extracellular, blood-borne parasites that mainly rely on glycolysis for their energy metabolism within the mammalian host. Trypanosomal glycolytic enzymes are therefore of interest for the development of trypanocidal drugs. Here, we report the serendipitous discovery of a camelid single-domain antibody (sdAb aka Nanobody) that selectively inhibits the enzymatic activity of trypanosomatid (but not host) pyruvate kinases through an allosteric mechanism. By combining enzyme kinetics, biophysics, structural biology, and transgenic parasite survival assays, we provide a proof-of-principle that the sdAb-mediated enzyme inhibition negatively impacts parasite fitness and growth.
-
- Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
The relationship between protein dynamics and function is essential for understanding biological processes and developing effective therapeutics. Functional sites within proteins are critical for activities such as substrate binding, catalysis, and structural changes. Existing computational methods for the predictions of functional residues are trained on sequence, structural, and experimental data, but they do not explicitly model the influence of evolution on protein dynamics. This overlooked contribution is essential as it is known that evolution can fine-tune protein dynamics through compensatory mutations either to improve the proteins’ performance or diversify its function while maintaining the same structural scaffold. To model this critical contribution, we introduce DyNoPy, a computational method that combines residue coevolution analysis with molecular dynamics simulations, revealing hidden correlations between functional sites. DyNoPy constructs a graph model of residue–residue interactions, identifies communities of key residue groups, and annotates critical sites based on their roles. By leveraging the concept of coevolved dynamical couplings—residue pairs with critical dynamical interactions that have been preserved during evolution—DyNoPy offers a powerful method for predicting and analysing protein evolution and dynamics. We demonstrate the effectiveness of DyNoPy on SHV-1 and PDC-3, chromosomally encoded β-lactamases linked to antibiotic resistance, highlighting its potential to inform drug design and address pressing healthcare challenges.
