Bh3 induced conformational changes in Bcl-Xl revealed by crystal structure and comparative analysis

• Published in: Proteins, structure, function, and bioinformatics Vol. 83; no. 7; pp. 1262 - 1272
• Main Authors: Rajan, Sreekanth, Choi, Minjoo, Baek, Kwanghee, Yoon, Ho Sup
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; apoptosis; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins - chemistry; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins - genetics; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins - metabolism; Bcl-2-Like Protein 11; bcl-X Protein - chemistry; bcl-X Protein - genetics; bcl-X Protein - metabolism; Bcl-XL; BH3 binding; BH3 Interacting Domain Death Agonist Protein - chemistry; BH3 Interacting Domain Death Agonist Protein - genetics; BH3 Interacting Domain Death Agonist Protein - metabolism; BID; BIM; Binding Sites; Cloning, Molecular; Crystallography, X-Ray; Escherichia coli - genetics; Escherichia coli - metabolism; Gene Expression; Humans; Hydrogen Bonding; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; Membrane Proteins - chemistry; Membrane Proteins - genetics; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; mitochondria; Mitochondria - chemistry; Mitochondrial Membranes - chemistry; Models, Molecular; Molecular Sequence Data; Peptides - chemistry; Peptides - genetics; Peptides - metabolism; Protein Binding; Protein Structure, Secondary; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - chemistry; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - genetics; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - metabolism; Recombinant Proteins - chemistry; Recombinant Proteins - genetics; Recombinant Proteins - metabolism; Sequence Alignment; structure comparison; BH3 binding; Bcl-XL; structure comparison; mitochondria; BIM; apoptosis; BID
• ISSN: 0887-3585; 1097-0134
• DOI: 10.1002/prot.24816

ABSTRACT Apoptosis or programmed cell death is a regulatory process in cells in response to stimuli perturbing physiological conditions. The Bcl‐2 family of proteins plays an important role in regulating homeostasis during apoptosis. In the process, the molecular interactions among the three members of this family, the pro‐apoptotic, anti‐apoptotic and BH3‐only proteins at the mitochondrial outer membrane define the fate of a cell. Here, we report the crystal structures of the human anti‐apoptotic protein Bcl‐XL in complex with BH3‐only BIDBH3 and BIMBH3 peptides determined at 2.0 Å and 1.5 Å resolution, respectively. The BH3 peptides bind to the canonical hydrophobic pocket in Bcl‐XL and adopt an alpha helical conformation in the bound form. Despite a similar structural fold, a comparison with other BH3 complexes revealed structural differences due to their sequence variations. In the Bcl‐XL‐BIDBH3 complex we observed a large pocket, in comparison with other BH3 complexes, lined by residues from helices α1, α2, α3, and α5 located adjacent to the canonical hydrophobic pocket. These results suggest that there are differences in the mode of interactions by the BH3 peptides that may translate into functional differences in apoptotic regulation. Proteins 2015; 83:1262–1272. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.