Biochemical and structural characterization of ?-catenin interactions with nonphosphorylated and CK2-phosphorylated Lef-1.
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ABSTRACT: In the Wnt/?-catenin signaling pathway, ?-catenin activates target genes through its interactions with the T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer-binding factor (TCF/Lef) family of transcription factors. The crystal structures of complexes between the ?-catenin armadillo domain and the Lef-1 N-terminal domain show that the overall conformation and many of the interactions are similar to other published structures of TCFs bound to ?-catenin. However, a second salt bridge in other TCF-?-catenin structures is absent in the structure of ?-catenin-Lef-1 complex, indicating that this feature is not obligatory for ?-catenin binding. Casein kinase II (CK2) has been shown to act as a positive regulator of Wnt signaling, and Lef-1 is a substrate of CK2. In vitro phosphorylation of purified Lef-1 was used to examine the effect of CK2 on the interaction of Lef-1 with ?-catenin. Mass spectrometry data show that CK2 phosphorylation of Lef-1 N-terminal domain results in a single phosphorylation site at Ser40. Isothermal titration calorimetry revealed that ?-catenin binds to nonphosphorylated or CK2-phosphorylated Lef-1 with the same affinity, which is consistent with the absence of phospho-Ser40 interactions in the crystal structure of phosphorylated Lef-1 N-terminal domain bound to ?-catenin. These data indicate that the effect of CK2 on the Wnt/?-catenin pathway does not appear to be at the level of the Lef-1-?-catenin interaction.
SUBMITTER: Sun J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3017643 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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