RESUMO
Cdc25B phosphatases are involved in cell cycle checkpoints and have become a possible target for developing new anticancer drugs. A more rational design of Cdc25B ligands would benefit from detailed knowledge of its tertiary structure. The conformational flexibility of the C-terminal region of the Cdc25B catalytic domain has been debated recently and suggested to play an important structural role. Here, a combination of experimental NMR measurements and molecular dynamics simulations for the complete catalytic domain of the Cdc25B phosphatase is presented. The stability of the C-terminal α-helix is confirmed, but the last 20 residues in the complete catalytic domain are very flexible, partially occlude the active site and may establish transient contacts with the protein core. This flexibility in the C-terminal tail may modulate the molecular recognition of natural substrates and competitive inhibitors by Cdc25B. Proteins 2016; 84:1567-1575. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Assuntos
Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/química , Fosfatases cdc25/química , Motivos de Aminoácidos , Domínio Catalítico , Clonagem Molecular , Escherichia coli/genética , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Expressão Gênica , Humanos , Simulação de Dinâmica Molecular , Ressonância Magnética Nuclear Biomolecular , Maleabilidade , Estabilidade Proteica , Estrutura Secundária de Proteína , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/metabolismo , Fosfatases cdc25/genética , Fosfatases cdc25/metabolismoRESUMO
The development of anticancer therapeutics that target Cdc25 phosphatases is now an active area of research. A complete understanding of the Cdc25 catalytic mechanism would certainly allow a more rational inhibitor design. However, the identity of the catalytic acid used by Cdc25 has been debated and not established unambiguously. Results of molecular dynamics simulations with a calibrated hybrid potential for the first reaction step catalyzed by Cdc25B in complex with its natural substrate, the Cdk2-pTpY/CycA protein complex, are presented here. The calculated reaction free-energy profiles are in very good agreement with experimental measurements and are used to discern between different proposals for the general acid. In addition, the simulations give useful insight on interactions that can be explored for the design of inhibitors specific to Cdc25.