1ej5: Difference between revisions

[[Image:1ej5.jpg|left|200px]]

'''SOLUTION STRUCTURE OF THE AUTOINHIBITED CONFORMATION OF WASP'''

The Rho-family GTPase, Cdc42, can regulate the actin cytoskeleton through activation of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) family members. Activation relieves an autoinhibitory contact between the GTPase-binding domain and the carboxy-terminal region of WASP proteins. Here we report the autoinhibited structure of the GTPase-binding domain of WASP, which can be induced by the C-terminal region or by organic co-solvents. In the autoinhibited complex, intramolecular interactions with the GTPase-binding domain occlude residues of the C terminus that regulate the Arp2/3 actin-nucleating complex. Binding of Cdc42 to the GTPase-binding domain causes a dramatic conformational change, resulting in disruption of the hydrophobic core and release of the C terminus, enabling its interaction with the actin regulatory machinery. These data show that 'intrinsically unstructured' peptides such as the GTPase-binding domain of WASP can be induced into distinct structural and functional states depending on context.

1EJ5 is a [[Single protein]] structure of sequence from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens Homo sapiens]. Full crystallographic information is available from [http://oca.weizmann.ac.il/oca-bin/ocashort?id=1EJ5 OCA].  

''Page seeded by [http://oca.weizmann.ac.il/oca OCA ] on Fri May 2 15:09:50 2008''