Z.Zhang
et al.
(2015).
New crystal structures of HSC-70 ATP binding domain confirm the role of individual binding pockets and suggest a new method of inhibition.
Biochimie,
108,
186-192.
PubMed id: 25433210
DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2014.11.012
In recent years the chaperone HSC-70 has become a target for drug design with a
strong focus in anticancer therapies. In our study of possible inhibitors of
HSC-70 enzymatic activity we screened compounds by NMR as well as X-ray
crystallography. As part of our screening efforts we crystallized the human
HSC-70 ATP binding domain and obtained novel crystal forms in addition to known
structures. The new crystal structures highlight the mobility of the entire
domain previously described by NMR, which was linked to its chaperone activity
but not yet demonstrated by X-ray crystallography. Conformational changes across
the entire molecule have been elucidated in response to the binding of small
molecule ligands and show a pattern of mobility consistent with postulated
signal transduction modes between the nucleotide binding domain (NBD) and the
substrate binding domain (SBD). In addition, two crystal structures contained
glycerol bound at a new site. Binding studies performed with glycerol analogs
proved inhibitory properties of the site, which were further characterized by
isothermal calorimetry and in silico docking studies. The presence of two
binding pockets enabled us to explore a novel method of inhibition by compounds
that bridge the adjacent phosphate and glycerol binding sites. Finally, an
example of such a bridged inhibitor is proposed.