Search

Intrinsically disordered regions (IDR) and short linear motifs (SLiMs) play pivotal roles in the intricate signaling networks governed by phosphatases and kinases. B56δ (encoded by PPP2R5D ) is a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) with long IDRs that harbor a substrate-mimicking SLiM and multiple phosphorylation sites. De novo missense mutations in PPP2R5D cause intellectual disabilities (ID), macrocephaly, Parkinsonism, and a broad range of neurological symptoms. Our single-particle cryo-EM structures of the PP2A-B56δ holoenzyme reveal that the long, disordered arms at the B56δ termini fold against each other and the holoenzyme core. This architecture suppresses both the phosphatase active site and the substrate-binding protein groove, thereby stabilizing the enzyme in a closed latent form with dual autoinhibition. The resulting interface spans over 190 Å and harbors unfavorable contacts, activation phosphorylation sites, and nearly all residues with ID-associated mutations. Our studies suggest that this dynamic interface is coupled to an allosteric network responsive to phosphorylation and altered globally by mutations. Furthermore, we found that ID mutations increase the holoenzyme activity and perturb the phosphorylation rates, and the severe variants significantly increase the mitotic duration and error rates compared to the normal variant., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

Human DNA polymerase eta (pol eta) can replicate across UV-induced pyrimidine dimers, and defects in the gene encoding pol eta result in a syndrome called xeroderma pigmentosum variant (XP-V). XP-V patients are prone to the development of cancer in sun-exposed areas, and cells derived from XP-V patients demonstrate increased sensitivity to UV radiation and a higher mutation rate compared with wild-type cells. pol eta has been shown to replicate across a wide spectrum of DNA lesions introduced by environmental or chemotherapeutic agents, or during nucleotide starvation, suggesting that the biological roles for pol eta are not limited to repair of UV-damaged DNA. The high error rate of pol eta requires that its intracellular activity be tightly regulated. Here, we show that the phosphorylation of pol eta increased after UV irradiation, and that treatment with caffeine, siRNA against ATR, or an inhibitor of PKC (calphostin C), reduced the accumulation of pol eta at stalled replication forks after UV irradiation or treatment with cisplatin and gemcitabine. Site-specific mutagenesis (S587A and T617A) of pol eta at two putative PKC phosphorylation sites located in the protein-protein interaction domain prevented nuclear foci formation induced by UV irradiation or treatment with gemcitabine/cisplatin. In addition, XP-V cell lines stably expressing either the S587A or T617A mutant form of pol eta were more sensitive to UV radiation and gemcitabine/cisplatin than control cells expressing wild-type pol eta. These results suggest that phosphorylation is one mechanism by which the cellular activity of pol eta is regulated.

The mechanisms that regulate insulin secretion were investigated using capacitance measurements of exocytosis in single beta cells maintained in tissue culture. Exocytosis was stimulated by voltage-clamp depolarizations to activate the voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels that mediate Ca2+ influx into the beta cell. Under basal conditions, the exocytotic responses were small despite large Ca2+ currents. The exocytotic responses were dramatically increased (10- to 20-fold) by conditions that promote protein phosphorylation, such as activation of protein kinases A and C or inhibition of protein phosphatases. The stimulation of secretion was not due to an enhancement of Ca2+ influx and both peak and integrated Ca2+ currents were largely unaffected. Our data indicate that exocytosis in the insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cell is determined by a balance between protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. They further suggest that although Ca2+ is required for the initiation of exocytosis, modulation of exocytosis by protein kinases and phosphatases, at a step distal to the elevation of Ca2+, is of much greater quantitative importance. Thus an elevation of Ca2+ may represent a permissive rather than a decisive factor in the regulation of the insulin secretory process.