McsB is a protein arginine kinase that phosphorylates and inhibits the heat-shock regulator CtsR

Science. 2009 Jun 5;324(5932):1323-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1170088.

Abstract

All living organisms face a variety of environmental stresses that cause the misfolding and aggregation of proteins. To eliminate damaged proteins, cells developed highly efficient stress response and protein quality control systems. We performed a biochemical and structural analysis of the bacterial CtsR/McsB stress response. The crystal structure of the CtsR repressor, in complex with DNA, pinpointed key residues important for high-affinity binding to the promoter regions of heat-shock genes. Moreover, biochemical characterization of McsB revealed that McsB specifically phosphorylates arginine residues in the DNA binding domain of CtsR, thereby impairing its function as a repressor of stress response genes. Identification of the CtsR/McsB arginine phospho-switch expands the repertoire of possible protein modifications involved in prokaryotic and eukaryotic transcriptional regulation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Arginine / metabolism
  • Bacterial Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • DNA, Bacterial / metabolism
  • Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
  • Geobacillus stearothermophilus / genetics
  • Geobacillus stearothermophilus / metabolism*
  • Heat-Shock Response / genetics*
  • Helix-Turn-Helix Motifs
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
  • Phosphorylation
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Protein Kinases / chemistry
  • Protein Kinases / genetics
  • Protein Kinases / metabolism*
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Repressor Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Repressor Proteins / chemistry
  • Repressor Proteins / genetics
  • Repressor Proteins / metabolism*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • CtsR protein, bacteria
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • Repressor Proteins
  • Arginine
  • Protein Kinases

Associated data

  • PDB/3H0D