SARAH Domain-Mediated MST2-RASSF Dimeric Interactions

TY - JOUR

T1 - SARAH Domain-Mediated MST2-RASSF Dimeric Interactions

AU - Sánchez-sanz, Goar

AU - Tywoniuk, Bartłomiej

AU - Matallanas, David

AU - Romano, David

AU - Nguyen, Lan K.

AU - Kholodenko, Boris N.

AU - Rosta, Edina

AU - Kolch, Walter

AU - Buchete, Nicolae-viorel

PY - 2016/10/7

Y1 - 2016/10/7

N2 - RASSF enzymes act as key apoptosis activators and tumor suppressors, being downregulated in many human cancers, although their exact regulatory roles remain unknown. A key downstream event in the RASSF pathway is the regulation of MST kinases, which are main effectors of RASSF-induced apoptosis. The regulation of MST1/2 includes both homo- and heterodimerization, mediated by helical SARAH domains, though the underlying molecular interaction mechanism is unclear. Here, we study the interactions between RASSF1A, RASSF5, and MST2 SARAH domains by using both atomistic molecular simulation techniques and experiments. We construct and study models of MST2 homodimers and MST2-RASSF SARAH heterodimers, and we identify the factors that control their high molecular stability. In addition, we also analyze both computationally and experimentally the interactions of MST2 SARAH domains with a series of synthetic peptides particularly designed to bind to it, and hope that our approach can be used to address some of the challenging problems in designing new anti-cancer drugs.

AB - RASSF enzymes act as key apoptosis activators and tumor suppressors, being downregulated in many human cancers, although their exact regulatory roles remain unknown. A key downstream event in the RASSF pathway is the regulation of MST kinases, which are main effectors of RASSF-induced apoptosis. The regulation of MST1/2 includes both homo- and heterodimerization, mediated by helical SARAH domains, though the underlying molecular interaction mechanism is unclear. Here, we study the interactions between RASSF1A, RASSF5, and MST2 SARAH domains by using both atomistic molecular simulation techniques and experiments. We construct and study models of MST2 homodimers and MST2-RASSF SARAH heterodimers, and we identify the factors that control their high molecular stability. In addition, we also analyze both computationally and experimentally the interactions of MST2 SARAH domains with a series of synthetic peptides particularly designed to bind to it, and hope that our approach can be used to address some of the challenging problems in designing new anti-cancer drugs.

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005051

DO - 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005051

M3 - Article

SN - 1553-734X

VL - 12

JO - PLoS Computational Biology

JF - PLoS Computational Biology

IS - 10

M1 - e1005051

ER -