Solution NMR of MPS-1 reveals a random coil cytosolic domain structure

PLoS One. 2014 Oct 27;9(10):e111035. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111035. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Caenorhabditis elegans MPS1 is a single transmembrane helical auxiliary subunit that co-localizes with the voltage-gated potassium channel KVS1 in the nematode nervous system. MPS-1 shares high homology with KCNE (potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily E member) auxiliary subunits, and its cytosolic domain was reported to have a serine/threonine kinase activity that modulates KVS1 channel function via phosphorylation. In this study, NMR spectroscopy indicated that the full length and truncated MPS-1 cytosolic domain (134-256) in the presence or absence of n-dodecylphosphocholine detergent micelles adopted a highly flexible random coil secondary structure. In contrast, protein kinases usually adopt a stable folded conformation in order to implement substrate recognition and phosphoryl transfer. The highly flexible random coil secondary structure suggests that MPS-1 in the free state is unstructured but may require a substrate or binding partner to adopt stable structure required for serine/threonine kinase activity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / chemistry*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Micelles
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular*
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Phosphorylcholine / analogs & derivatives
  • Phosphorylcholine / chemistry
  • Potassium Channels / chemistry*
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs*
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Solutions

Substances

  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
  • MPS-1 protein, C elegans
  • Micelles
  • Peptides
  • Potassium Channels
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Solutions
  • Phosphorylcholine
  • dodecylphosphocholine

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China grant U1332138 to CT and National Natural Science Foundation of China young investigator grant 31300685 to PS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.