Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:2.7.11.1 (protein kinase)
81,284 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The protein kinase GCN2 stimulates expression of the yeast transcriptional activator GCN4 at the translational level by phosphorylating the alpha subunit of translation initiation factor 2 (eIF-2 alpha) in amino acid-starved cells. Phosphorylation of eIF-2 alpha reduces its activity, allowing ribosomes to bypass short open reading frames present in the GCN4 mRNA leader and initiate translation at the GCN4 start codon. We describe here 17 dominant GCN2 mutations that lead to derepression of GCN4 expression in the absence of amino acid starvation. Seven of these GCN2c alleles map in the protein kinase moiety, and two in this group alter the presumed ATP-binding domain, suggesting that ATP binding is a regulated aspect of GCN2 function. Six GCN2c alleles map in a region related to histidyl-tRNA synthetases, and two in this group alter a sequence motif conserved among class II aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases that directly interacts with the acceptor stem of tRNA. These results support the idea that GCN2 kinase function is activated under starvation conditions by binding uncharged tRNA to the domain related to histidyl-tRNA synthetase. The remaining GCN2c alleles map at the extreme C terminus, a domain required for ribosome association of the protein. Representative mutations in each domain were shown to depend on the phosphorylation site in eIF-2 alpha for their effects on GCN4 expression and to increase the level of eIF-2 alpha phosphorylation in the absence of amino acid starvation. Synthetic GCN2c double mutations show greater derepression of GCN4 expression than the parental single mutations, and they have a slow-growth phenotype that we attribute to inhibition of general translation initiation. The phenotypes of the GCN2c alleles are dependent on GCN1 and GCN3, indicating that these two positive regulators of GCN4 expression mediate the inhibitory effects on translation initiation associated with activation of the yeast eIF-2 alpha kinase GCN2.
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PMID:Mutations activating the yeast eIF-2 alpha kinase GCN2: isolation of alleles altering the domain related to histidyl-tRNA synthetases. 144 7

GCN4 is a transcriptional activator of amino acid-biosynthetic genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. GCN2, a translational activator of GCN4 expression, contains a domain homologous to the catalytic subunit of eucaryotic protein kinases. Substitution of a highly conserved lysine residue in the kinase domain abolished GCN2 regulatory function in vivo and its ability to autophosphorylate in vitro, indicating that GCN2 acts as a protein kinase in stimulating GCN4 expression. Elevated GCN2 gene dosage led to derepression of GCN4 under nonstarvation conditions; however, we found that GCN2 mRNA and protein levels did not increase in wild-type cells in response to amino acid starvation. Therefore, it appears that GCN2 protein kinase function is stimulated posttranslationally in amino acid-starved cells. Three dominant-constitutive GCN2 point mutations were isolated that led to derepressed GCN4 expression under nonstarvation conditions. Two of the GCN2(Con) mutations mapped in the kinase domain itself. The third mapped just downstream from a carboxyl-terminal segment homologous to histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HisRS), which we suggested might function to detect uncharged tRNA in amino acid-starved cells and activate the adjacent protein kinase moiety. Deletions and substitutions in the HisRS-related sequences and in the carboxyl-terminal segment in which one of the GCN2(Con) mutation mapped abolished GCN2 positive regulatory function in vivo without lowering autophosphorylation activity in vitro. These results suggest that sequences flanking the GCN2 protein kinase moiety are positive-acting domains required to increase recognition of physiological substrates or lower the requirement for uncharged tRNA to activate kinase activity under conditions of amino acid starvation.
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PMID:Identification of positive-acting domains in GCN2 protein kinase required for translational activation of GCN4 expression. 218

The GCN2 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae stimulates the expression of amino acid biosynthetic genes under conditions of amino acid starvation by derepressing GCN4, a transcriptional activator of these genes. GCN2 contains sequences homologous to the catalytic domain of protein kinases. We show here that substitution of a highly conserved lysine in the presumed ATP-binding site of this domain impairs the derepression of histidine biosynthetic genes under GCN4 control. This result supports the idea that protein kinase activity is required for GCN2 positive regulatory function. Determination of the nucleotide sequence of the entire GCN2 complementation unit, and measurement of the molecular weight of GCN2 protein expressed in vivo, indicate that GCN2 is a Mr approximately 180,000 protein and contains a Mr approximately 60,000 segment homologous to histidyl-tRNA synthetases (HisRSs) juxtaposed to the protein kinase domain. Several two-codon insertion mutations in the HisRS-related coding sequences inactivate GCN2 regulatory function. Based on these results, we propose that the GCN2 HisRS domain responds to the presence of uncharged tRNA by activating the adjacent protein kinase moiety, thus providing a means of coupling GCN2-mediated derepression of GCN4 expression to the availability of amino acids.
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PMID:Juxtaposition of domains homologous to protein kinases and histidyl-tRNA synthetases in GCN2 protein suggests a mechanism for coupling GCN4 expression to amino acid availability. 266 Jan 41

The protein kinase GCN2 stimulates translation of the transcriptional activator GCN4 in yeast cells starved for amino acids by phosphorylating translation initiation factor 2. Several regulatory domains, including a pseudokinase domain, a histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HisRS)-related region, and a C-terminal (C-term) segment required for ribosome association, have been identified in GCN2. We used the yeast two-hybrid assay, coimmunoprecipitation analysis, and in vitro binding assays to investigate physical interactions between the different functional domains of GCN2. A segment containing about two thirds of the protein kinase (PK) catalytic domain and another containing the C-term region of GCN2 interacted with themselves in the two-hybrid assay, and both the PK and the C-term domains could be coimmunoprecipitated with wild-type GCN2 from yeast cell extracts. In addition, in vitro-translated PK and C-term segments showed specific binding in vitro to recombinant glutathione S-transferase (GST)-PK and GST-C-term fusion proteins, respectively. Wild-type GCN2 could be coimmunoprecipitated with a full-length LexA-GCN2 fusion protein from cell extracts, providing direct evidence for dimerization by full-length GCN2 molecules. Deleting the C-term or PK segments abolished or reduced, respectively, the yield of GCN2-LexA-GCN2 complexes. These results provide in vivo and in vitro evidence that GCN2 dimerizes through self-interactions involving the C-term and PK domains. The PK domain showed pairwise in vitro binding interactions with the pseudokinase, HisRS, and C-term domains; additionally, the HisRS domain interacted with the C-term region. We propose that physical interactions between the PK domain and its flanking regulatory regions and dimerization through the PK and C-term domains both play important roles in restricting GCN2 kinase activity to amino acid-starved cells.
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PMID:Dimerization by translation initiation factor 2 kinase GCN2 is mediated by interactions in the C-terminal ribosome-binding region and the protein kinase domain. 956 89

Genomic and cDNA clones homologous to the yeast GCN2 eIF-2alpha kinase (yGCN2) were isolated from Drosophila melanogaster. The identity of the Drosophila GCN2 (dGCN2) gene is supported by the unique combination of sequence encoding a protein kinase catalytic domain and a domain homologous to histidyl-tRNA synthetase and by the ability of dGCN2 to complement a deletion mutant of the yeast GCN2 gene. Complementation of Deltagcn2 in yeast by dGCN2 depends on the presence of the critical regulatory phosphorylation site (serine 51) of eIF-2alpha. dGCN2 is composed of 10 exons encoding a protein of 1589 amino acids. dGCN2 mRNA is expressed throughout Drosophila development and is particularly abundant at the earliest stages of embryogenesis. The dGCN2 gene was cytogenetically and physically mapped to the right arm of the third chromosome at 100C3 in STS Dm2514. The discovery of GCN2 in higher eukaryotes is somewhat unexpected given the marked differences between the amino acid biosynthetic pathways of yeast vs. Drosophila and other higher eukaryotes. Despite these differences, the presence of GCN2 in Drosophila suggests at least partial conservation from yeast to multicellular organisms of the mechanisms responding to amino acid deprivation.
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PMID:Isolation of the gene encoding the Drosophila melanogaster homolog of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GCN2 eIF-2alpha kinase. 964 37

Phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF-2alpha) is a well-characterized mechanism regulating protein synthesis in response to environmental stresses. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, starvation for amino acids induces phosphorylation of eIF-2alpha by Gcn2 protein kinase, leading to elevated translation of GCN4, a transcriptional activator of more than 50 genes. Uncharged tRNA that accumulates during amino acid limitation is proposed to activate Gcn2p by associating with Gcn2p sequences homologous to histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HisRS) enzymes. Given that eIF-2alpha phosphorylation in mammals is induced in response to both carbohydrate and amino acid limitations, we addressed whether activation of Gcn2p in yeast is also controlled by different nutrient deprivations. We found that starvation for glucose induces Gcn2p phosphorylation of eIF-2alpha and stimulates GCN4 translation. Induction of eIF-2alpha phosphorylation by Gcn2p during glucose limitation requires the function of the HisRS-related domain but is largely independent of the ribosome binding sequences of Gcn2p. Furthermore, Gcn20p, a factor required for Gcn2 protein kinase stimulation of GCN4 expression in response to amino acid starvation, is not essential for GCN4 translational control in response to limitation for carbohydrates. These results indicate there are differences between the mechanisms regulating Gcn2p activity in response to amino acid and carbohydrate deficiency. Gcn2p induction of GCN4 translation during carbohydrate limitation enhances storage of amino acids in the vacuoles and facilitates entry into exponential growth during a shift from low-glucose to high-glucose medium. Gcn2p function also contributes to maintenance of glycogen levels during prolonged glucose starvation, suggesting a linkage between amino acid control and glycogen metabolism.
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PMID:Glucose limitation induces GCN4 translation by activation of Gcn2 protein kinase. 1073 73

Protein kinase GCN2 regulates translation in amino acid-starved cells by phosphorylating elF2. GCN2 contains a regulatory domain related to histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HisRS) postulated to bind multiple deacylated tRNAs as a general sensor of starvation. In accordance with this model, GCN2 bound several deacylated tRNAs with similar affinities, and aminoacylation of tRNAphe weakened its interaction with GCN2. Unexpectedly, the C-terminal ribosome binding segment of GCN2 (C-term) was required in addition to the HisRS domain for strong tRNA binding. A combined HisRS+ C-term segment bound to the isolated protein kinase (PK) domain in vitro, and tRNA impeded this interaction. An activating mutation (GCN2c-E803V) that weakens PK-C-term association greatly enhanced tRNA binding by GCN2. These results provide strong evidence that tRNA stimulates the GCN2 kinase moiety by preventing an inhibitory interaction with the bipartite tRNA binding domain.
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PMID:Uncharged tRNA activates GCN2 by displacing the protein kinase moiety from a bipartite tRNA-binding domain. 1098 75

GCN2 stimulates translation of GCN4 mRNA in amino acid-starved cells by phosphorylating translation initiation factor 2. GCN2 is activated by binding of uncharged tRNA to a domain related to histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HisRS). The HisRS-like region contains two dimerization domains (HisRS-N and HisRS-C) required for GCN2 function in vivo but dispensable for dimerization by full-length GCN2. Residues corresponding to amino acids at the dimer interface of Escherichia coli HisRS were required for dimerization of recombinant HisRS-N and for tRNA binding by full-length GCN2, suggesting that HisRS-N dimerization promotes tRNA binding and kinase activation. HisRS-N also interacted with the protein kinase (PK) domain, and a deletion impairing this interaction destroyed GCN2 function without reducing tRNA binding; thus, HisRS-N-PK interaction appears to stimulate PK function. The C-terminal domain of GCN2 (C-term) interacted with the PK domain in a manner disrupted by an activating PK mutation (E803V). These results suggest that the C-term is an autoinhibitory domain, counteracted by tRNA binding. We conclude that multiple domain interactions, positive and negative, mediate the activation of GCN2 by uncharged tRNA.
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PMID:The tRNA-binding moiety in GCN2 contains a dimerization domain that interacts with the kinase domain and is required for tRNA binding and kinase activation. 1125 Sep 8

The protein kinase GCN2 is activated in amino acid-starved cells on binding of uncharged tRNA to a histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HisRS)-related domain. We isolated two point mutations in the protein kinase (PK) domain, R794G and F842L, that permit strong kinase activity in the absence of tRNA binding. These mutations also bypass the requirement for ribosome binding, dimerization, and association with the GCN1/GCN20 regulatory complex, suggesting that all of these functions facilitate tRNA binding to wild-type GCN2. While the isolated wild-type PK domain was completely inert, the mutant PK was highly active in vivo and in vitro. These results identify an inhibitory structure intrinsic to the PK domain that must be overcome on tRNA binding by interactions with a regulatory region, most likely the N terminus of the HisRS segment. As Arg 794 and Phe 842 are predicted to lie close to one another and to the active site, they may participate directly in misaligning active site residues. Autophosphorylation of the activation loop was stimulated by R794G and F842L, and the autophosphorylation sites remained critical for GCN2 function in the presence of these mutations. Our results imply a two-step activation mechanism involving distinct conformational changes in the PK domain.
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PMID:Mutations that bypass tRNA binding activate the intrinsically defective kinase domain in GCN2. 1202 5

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