title: Bi-functional, substrate mimicking RNA inhibits MSK1-mediated cAMP-response element-binding protein phosphorylation and reveals magnesium ion-dependent conformational changes of the kinase.
abstract: The design of specific inhibitors for protein kinases is an important step toward elucidation of intracellular signal transduction pathways and to guide drug discovery programs. We devised a model approach to generate specific, competitive kinase inhibitors by isolating substrate mimics containing two independent binding sites with an anti-idiotype strategy from combinatorial RNA libraries. As a general test for the ability to generate highly specific kinase inhibitors, we selected the transcription factor cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) that is phosphorylated on the same serine residue by the protein kinase MSK1 as well as by RSK1. The sequences and structures of these kinases are very similar, about 60% of their amino acids are identical. Nevertheless, we can demonstrate that the selected RNA inhibitors inhibit specifically CREB phosphorylation by MSK1 but do not affect CREB phosphorylation by RSK1. The inhibitors interact preferentially with the inactive form of MSK1. Furthermore, we demonstrate that RNA ligands can be conformation-specific probes, and this feature allowed us to describe magnesium ion-dependent conformational changes of MSK1 upon activation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom. jorg.hamm@unito.it
authors.forename: Jorg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hamm
authors.forename: Dario R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Alessi
authors.forename: Ricardo M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Biondi
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D017931:DNA Primers; D006801:Humans; D008274:Magnesium / Q000378:metabolism*; D018716:Molecular Mimicry; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D038744:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 90-kDa / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance
chemical_list: D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D017931:DNA Primers; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012313:RNA; D038744:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 90-kDa; C116919:mitogen and stress-activated protein kinase 1; D008274:Magnesium