Complex of Phosphorylated Dictyostelium Discoideum Actin with Gelsolin
[GELS_HUMAN] Defects in GSN are the cause of amyloidosis type 5 (AMYL5) [MIM:105120]; also known as familial amyloidosis Finnish type. AMYL5 is a hereditary generalized amyloidosis due to gelsolin amyloid deposition. It is typically characterized by cranial neuropathy and lattice corneal dystrophy. Most patients have modest involvement of internal organs, but severe systemic disease can develop in some individuals causing peripheral polyneuropathy, amyloid cardiomyopathy, and nephrotic syndrome leading to renal failure.   
[GELS_HUMAN] Calcium-regulated, actin-modulating protein that binds to the plus (or barbed) ends of actin monomers or filaments, preventing monomer exchange (end-blocking or capping). It can promote the assembly of monomers into filaments (nucleation) as well as sever filaments already formed. Plays a role in ciliogenesis.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
On starvation, Dictyostelium cells aggregate to form multicellular fruiting bodies containing spores that germinate when transferred to nutrient-rich medium. This developmental cycle correlates with the extent of actin phosphorylation at Tyr-53 (pY53-actin), which is low in vegetative cells but high in viable mature spores. Here we describe high-resolution crystal structures of pY53-actin and unphosphorylated actin in complexes with gelsolin segment 1 and profilin. In the structure of pY53-actin, the phosphate group on Tyr-53 makes hydrogen-bonding interactions with residues of the DNase I-binding loop (D-loop) of actin, resulting in a more stable conformation of the D-loop than in the unphosphorylated structures. A more rigidly folded D-loop may explain some of the previously described properties of pY53-actin, including its increased critical concentration for polymerization, reduced rates of nucleation and pointed end elongation, and weak affinity for DNase I. We show here that phosphorylation of Tyr-53 inhibits subtilisin cleavage of the D-loop and reduces the rate of nucleotide exchange on actin. The structure of profilin-Dictyostelium-actin is strikingly similar to previously determined structures of profilin-beta-actin and profilin-alpha-actin. By comparing this representative set of profilin-actin structures with other structures of actin, we highlight the effects of profilin on the actin conformation. In the profilin-actin complexes, subdomains 1 and 3 of actin close around profilin, producing a 4.7 degrees rotation of the two major domains of actin relative to each other. As a result, the nucleotide cleft becomes moderately more open in the profilin-actin complex, probably explaining the stimulation of nucleotide exchange on actin by profilin.
Modulation of actin structure and function by phosphorylation of Tyr-53 and profilin binding.,Baek K, Liu X, Ferron F, Shu S, Korn ED, Dominguez R Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Aug 8. PMID:18689676
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