Kinase inhibition by a phosphorylated peptide corresponding to the major insulin receptor autophosphorylation domain

Change in membrane permeability induced by protegrin 1: implication of disulphide bridges for pore formation

Protegrin 1 (PG-1) is a naturally occurring cationic antimicrobial peptide that is 18 residues long, has an aminated carboxy terminus and contains two disulphide bridges. Here, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of PG-1 and three linear analogues. Then, the membrane permeabilisation induced by these peptides was studied upon Xenopus laevis oocytes by electrophysiological methods. From the results obtained, we concluded that protegrin is able to form anion channels. Moreover, it seems clear that the presence of disulphide bridges is a prerequisite for the pore formation at the membrane level and not for the antimicrobial activity.

Structural determinants of substrate selection by the human insulin-receptor protein-tyrosine kinase

Using NMR spectroscopy to visualise tyrosine phosphorylation kinetics in real time, we have investigated the sequence-dependent determinants of the selectivity of the human insulin receptor protein-tyrosine kinase for different tyrosine residues. The peptides used encompass the multiple-tyrosine-containing autophosphorylation site sequences from the insulin receptor kinase core domain (Tyr1158, Tyr1162 and Tyr1163) and from its specific C-terminal tail domain (Tyr1328 and Tyr1334). Comparison of the phosphorylation kinetics with those found for the tyrosine residues on a peptide comprising the regulatory tyrosine phosphorylation site of cdc2 points to the role of the primary sequence context of the phosphate acceptor. The particularly deleterious influence of a basic residue immediately C-terminal to the tyrosine is discussed in relation to the autophosphorylation properties of the regulatory loop regions of the insulin and epidermal growth factor receptor kinases. The data further suggest that receptor tyrosine kinase active sites and their substrate targets act in concert to ensure that specific downstream effects are activated.

Phosphorylation effects on flanking charged residues. Structural implications for signal transduction in protein kinases

1H-NMR and 31P-NMR spectroscopy were employed to assess the electrostatic consequences of phosphorylation of single and multiple tyrosine residues in peptides derived from the core and tail autophosphorylation regions of the human insulin receptor tyrosine-kinase domain. In both peptides, phosphorylation was accompanied by changes in the resonances from basic side-chains; those from acidic residues were unaffected. Tyrosine phosphorylation caused increases of up to one in the pKa values of histidine residues situated up to eight residues away in the primary sequence. Titration curve analysis by Hill plots suggested some cooperativity of histidine and phosphate ionizations. Behaviour closely analogous to that of the insulin receptor tail peptide was observed during changes in phosphorylation of the intact insulin receptor kinase domain, suggesting that the electrostatic dissemination effects seen for the isolated peptide are retained by the peptide sequence in the context of the much larger protein. Similar changes in the behaviour of basic residues were also observed upon tyrosine phosphorylation of a cdc2-derived peptide, suggesting that this potential of phosphorylation events to propagate directed structural changes may find a widespread utility in the activation of protein kinases and in the transduction of phosphorylation-based signalling.