Conformational dynamics of p53 N-terminal TAD2 region under different solvent conditions

Although the mystery molecule p53 has been studied extensively, still several unknown mechanisms need to be elucidated. Being a central hub of cellular signaling pathways, the function of p53 is precisely executed synergistically by its intrinsically disordered and structural domains. The disordered N-terminal region further modulates p53 function by undergoing promiscuous binding and folding with several partners with the help of TAD1 and TAD2 motifs. Among these regions, a significant contribution is made by TAD2 in terms of binding affinities. This heterogeneity in p53 TAD region motivates to employ a reductionist approach to understand the folding behavior of TAD2 region independently under a broad range of different pH, temperature and solvent conditions. Since the intracellular environment is complex and crowded with a variety of molecules providing different type of surfaces from polar to hydrophobic, it is mandatory to characterize the conformational heterogeneity of disordered proteins to completely understand their function. Different types of alcohols were used to estimate the structure forming capabilities of the TAD2 peptides using circular dichroism, fluorescence and lifetime spectroscopy. The alcohols ethanol, TFE and HFIP were previously known to induce increasing levels of hydrophobic environments in water-alcohol mixtures respectively. Our results have shown that TAD2 peptide undergoes a dehydration dependent induction of hydrophobic interactions leading towards structural transitions in presence of organic solvents. This study is highlighting the importance of hydrophobic surfaces playing a crucial role in TAD2 interaction and conformational transitions.