title: Crystal structure of the polo-box domain of polo-like kinase 2.
abstract: Polo-like kinase 2 (PLK2) is a crucial regulator in cell cycle progression, DNA damage response, and neuronal activity. PLK2 is characterized by the conserved N-terminal kinase domain and the unique C-terminal polo-box domain (PBD). The PBD mediates diverse functions of PLK2 by binding phosphorylated Ser-pSer/pThr motifs of its substrates. Here, we report the first crystal structure of the PBD of PLK2. The overall structure of the PLK2 PBD is similar to that of the PLK1 PBD, which is composed by two polo boxes each contain β6α structures that form a 12-stranded β sandwich domain. The edge of the interface between the two polo boxes forms the phosphorylated Ser-pSer/pThr motifs binding cleft. On the hand, the peripheral regions around the core binding cleft of the PLK2 PBD is distinct from that of the PLK1 PBD, which might confer the substrate specificity of the PBDs of the polo-like kinase family.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Structural Biology, School of Chemical Biology & Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Mei
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Computational Chemistry & Drug Design, School of Chemical Biology & Biotechnology, Peking University, Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China. Electronic address: tau@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Structural Biology, School of Chemical Biology & Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China. Electronic address: quanjm@pkusz.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jun-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Quan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
chemical_list: C496126:PLK2 protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
keywords: Cell cycle; DNA damage; Neuronal activity; Polo-box domain; Polo-like kinase 2