Ordered disorder of the astrocytic dystrophin-associated protein complex in the norm and pathology

PLoS One. 2013 Aug 27;8(8):e73476. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0073476. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

The abundance and potential functional roles of intrinsically disordered regions in aquaporin-4, Kir4.1, a dystrophin isoforms Dp71, α-1 syntrophin, and α-dystrobrevin; i.e., proteins constituting the functional core of the astrocytic dystrophin-associated protein complex (DAPC), are analyzed by a wealth of computational tools. The correlation between protein intrinsic disorder, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and protein function is also studied together with the peculiarities of structural and functional conservation of these proteins. Our study revealed that the DAPC members are typical hybrid proteins that contain both ordered and intrinsically disordered regions. Both ordered and disordered regions are important for the stabilization of this complex. Many disordered binding regions of these five proteins are highly conserved among vertebrates. Conserved eukaryotic linear motifs and molecular recognition features found in the disordered regions of five protein constituting DAPC likely enhance protein-protein interactions that are required for the cellular functions of this complex. Curiously, the disorder-based binding regions are rarely affected by SNPs suggesting that these regions are crucial for the biological functions of their corresponding proteins.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chickens / genetics*
  • Chickens / metabolism
  • Dystrophin-Associated Protein Complex / chemistry
  • Dystrophin-Associated Protein Complex / genetics*
  • Dystrophin-Associated Protein Complex / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Lizards / genetics*
  • Lizards / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Muscular Dystrophies / genetics*
  • Muscular Dystrophies / metabolism
  • Muscular Dystrophy, Animal
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide*
  • Protein Structure, Quaternary
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Xenopus laevis
  • Zebrafish / genetics*
  • Zebrafish / metabolism

Substances

  • Dystrophin-Associated Protein Complex

Grants and funding

The authors have no support or funding to report.