title: Critical residues in an SH3 domain from Sem-5 suggest a mechanism for proline-rich peptide recognition.
abstract: Src homology 3 (SH3) domains bind specific proline-rich peptide motifs. To identify interactions involved in peptide recognition, we have mutated residues on the putative binding surface of an SH3 domain from the Caenorhabditis elegans protein Sem-5. Among the most critical positions are three adjacent aromatic residues, which appear to participate in highly stereospecific packing interactions with the ligand. The co-planar arrangement of two of these residues closely matches the periodicity of a poly-proline II (PPII) helix. Thus, a model for recognition has the peptide adopting a PPII helix, with the pyrrolidine rings on one helical face interlocking with the aromatic SH3 residues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Richards
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D055232:Proline-Rich Protein Domains; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D010455:Peptides; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C085751:Sem-5 protein, C elegans