Domain mapping on the human metastasis regulator protein h-Prune reveals a C-terminal dimerization domain

Biochem J. 2007 Oct 15;407(2):199-205. doi: 10.1042/BJ20070408.

Abstract

The human orthologue of the Drosophila prune protein (h-Prune) is an interaction partner and regulator of the metastasis suppressor protein NM23-H1 (non-metastatic protein 23). Studies on a cellular breast-cancer model showed that inhibition of the cAMP-specific PDE (phosphodiesterase) activity of h-Prune lowered the incidence of metastasis formation, suggesting that inhibition of h-Prune could be a therapeutic approach towards metastatic tumours. H-Prune shows no sequence similarity with known mammalian PDEs, but instead appears to belong to the DHH (Asp-His-His) superfamily of phosphoesterases. In order to investigate the structure and molecular function of h-Prune, we expressed recombinant h-Prune in a bacterial system. Through sequence analysis and limited proteolysis, we identified domain boundaries and a potential coiled-coil region in a C-terminal cortexillin homology domain. We found that this C-terminal domain mediated h-Prune homodimerization, as well as its interaction with NM23-H1. The PDE catalytic domain of h-Prune was mapped to the N-terminus and shown to be active, even when present in a monomeric form. Our findings indicate that h-Prune is composed of two independent active sites and two interaction sites for the assembly of oligomeric signalling complexes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Breast Neoplasms
  • Carrier Proteins / chemistry*
  • Carrier Proteins / metabolism
  • Dimerization
  • Humans
  • NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases / chemistry*
  • NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases / metabolism
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Neoplasm Proteins / chemistry*
  • Neoplasm Proteins / metabolism
  • Peptide Mapping
  • Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases
  • Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary

Substances

  • Carrier Proteins
  • NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases
  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • NME1 protein, human
  • PRUNE1 protein, human
  • Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases
  • Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases