Avid interactions underlie the Lys63-linked polyubiquitin binding specificities observed for UBA domains.

Ubiquitin (denoted Ub) receptor proteins as a group must contain a diverse set of binding specificities to distinguish the many forms of polyubiquitin (polyUb) signals. Previous studies suggested that the large class of ubiquitin-associated (UBA) domains contains members with intrinsic specificity for Lys63-linked polyUb or Lys48-linked polyUb, thus explaining how ...
UBA-containing proteins can mediate diverse signaling events. Here we show that previously observed Lys63-polyUb selectivity in UBA domains is the result of an artifact in which the dimeric fusion partner, glutathione S-transferase (GST), positions two UBAs for higher affinity, avid interactions with Lys63-polyUb, but not with Lys48-polyUb. Freed from GST, these UBAs are either nonselective or prefer Lys48-polyUb. Accordingly, NMR experiments reveal no Lys63-polyUb-specific binding epitopes for these UBAs. We reexamine previous conclusions based on GST-UBAs and present an alternative model for how UBAs achieve a diverse range of linkage specificities.
Mesh Terms:
Binding Sites, Binding, Competitive, Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel, Fluorescence Polarization, Glutathione Transferase, Kinetics, Lysine, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Models, Molecular, Polyubiquitin, Protein Binding, Protein Multimerization, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins, Surface Plasmon Resonance, Ubiquitin
Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol.
Date: Aug. 01, 2009
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