Ca2+-dependent conformational changes in a C-terminal cytosolic domain of polycystin-2.

ABSTRACT: The PKD1 and PKD2 genes are the genes that are mutated in patients suffering from autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. The human PKD2 gene codes for a 968-amino acid long membrane protein called polycystin-2 that represents a cation channel whose activity can be regulated by Ca(2+) ions. By CD, fluorescence, and NMR spectroscopy, we have studied a 117-amino acid-long fragment of the cytoplasmic domain of polycystin-2, polycystin-2-(680-796) that was proposed to contain a Ca(2+)-binding site. NMR structure determination reveals the existence of two Ca(2+)-binding sites in polycystin-2-(680-796) arranged in a typical and an atypical EF-hand motif. In the absence of Ca(2+) the protein forms a dimer that is dissociated by Ca(2+) binding. This dissociation may be related to the Ca(2+)

SUBMITTER: Schumann F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2782030 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature