NMR analysis of interactions of a phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase SH2 domain with phosphotyrosine peptides reveals interdependence of major binding sites.

The interactions of the N-terminal src homology (SH2) domain (N-SH2) of the 85 kDa subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI-3K) with phosphotyrosine (ptyr) and a series of ptyr-containing peptides have been examined by NMR spectroscopy. HSQC (heteronuclear single-quantum coherence) NMR spectra of 15N-labeled SH2 were used to evaluate its interactions with ptyr-containing ligands. The ability of ligands to cause chemical shift changes was compared to their potency as competitors in in vitro binding experiments using polyoma virus middle T antigen (MT). The results suggest the interdependence of SH2 binding elements. Chemical shifts of residues involved in the ptyr binding were altered by variations of the sequence of the bound peptide, suggesting that the ptyr fit can be adjusted by the peptide sequence. Perturbations of chemical shifts of residues coordinating the methionine three residues C-terminal to the ptyr (the +3 residue) were affected by substitution in the binding peptide at +1 and vice versa. Such results show synergistic interplay between regions of the SH2 binding residues C-terminal to the ptyr.