Recognition of p63 by the E3 ligase ITCH: Effect of an ectodermal dysplasia mutant

Cell Cycle. 2010 Sep 15;9(18):3730-9. Epub 2010 Sep 8.

Abstract

The E3 ubiquitin ligase Itch mediates the degradation of the p63 protein. Itch contains four WW domains which are pivotal for the substrate recognition process. Indeed, this domain is implicated in several signalling complexes crucially involved in human diseases including Muscular Dystrophy, Alzheimer's Disease and Huntington Disease. WW domains are highly compact protein-protein binding modules that interact with short proline-rich sequences. The four WW domains present in Itch belong to the Group I type, which binds polypeptides with a PY motif characterized by a PP xY consensus sequence, where x can be any residue. Accordingly, the Itch-p63 interaction results from a direct binding of Itch-WW2 domain with the PY motif of p63. Here, we report a structural analysis of the Itch-p63 interaction by fluorescence, CD and NMR spectroscopy. Indeed, we studied the in vitro interaction between Itch-WW2 domain and p63(534-551), an 18-mer peptide encompassing a fragment of the p63 protein including the PY motif. In addition, we evaluated the conformation and the interaction with Itch-WW2 of a site specific mutant of p63, I549T, that has been reported in both Hay-Wells syndrome and Rapp-Hodgkin syndrome. Based on our results, we propose an extended PP xY motif for the Itch recognition motif (P-P-P-Y-x(4)-[ST]-[ILV]), which includes these C-terminal residues to the PP xY motif.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Circular Dichroism
  • Ectodermal Dysplasia / genetics*
  • Ectodermal Dysplasia / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence
  • Trans-Activators / chemistry*
  • Trans-Activators / genetics
  • Trans-Activators / metabolism
  • Transcription Factors
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / chemistry*
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / genetics
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / metabolism
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / chemistry*
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / metabolism

Substances

  • TP63 protein, human
  • Trans-Activators
  • Transcription Factors
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases