Structure of the SCAN domain of human paternally expressed gene 3 protein

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 23;8(7):e69538. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069538. Print 2013.

Abstract

Human paternally expressed gene 3 protein (PEG3) is a large multi-domain entity with diverse biological functions, including acting as a transcription factor. PEG3 contains twelve Cys2-His2 type zinc finger domains, extended regions of predicted disorder and at the N-terminus a SCAN domain. PEG3 has been identified as partner of the E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase Siah1, an association we sought to investigate. An efficient bacterial recombinant expression system of the human PEG3-SCAN domain was prepared and crystals appeared spontaneously when the protein was being concentrated after purification. The structure was determined at 1.95 Å resolution and reveals a polypeptide fold of five helices in an extended configuration. An extensive dimerization interface, using almost a quarter of the solvent accessible surface, and key salt bridge interactions explain the stability of the dimer. Comparison with other SCAN domains reveals a high degree of conservation involving residues that contribute to the dimer interface. The PEG3-SCAN domain appears to constitute an assembly block, enabling PEG3 homo- or heterodimerization to control gene expression in a combinatorial fashion.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Amino Acids / metabolism
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Humans
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / chemistry*
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / metabolism*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Multimerization
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors
  • PEG3 protein, human

Grants and funding

This study was partly funded by AstraZeneca by way of contributing to a studentship for VR. Dr. Derek Ogg (Astra Zeneca) provided excellent support and Dr. Navratna Vajpai (Astra Zeneca) ran the NMR experiment. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.