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Title: A Metastable Contact and Structural Disorder in the Estrogen Receptor Transactivation Domain

Journal Article · · Structure

The N-terminal transactivation domain (NTD) of estrogen receptor alpha, a well-known member of the family of intrinsically disordered proteins, mediates the receptor's transactivation function. However, an accurate molecular dissection of NTD's structure-function relationships remains elusive. Here, we show that the NTD adopts a mostly disordered, unexpectedly compact conformation that undergoes structural expansion on chemical denaturation. By combining small-angle X-ray scattering, hydroxyl radical protein footprinting, and computational modeling, we derive the ensemble-structures of the NTD and determine its ensemble-contact map revealing metastable long-range contacts, e.g., between residues I33 and S118. We show that mutation at S118, a known phosphorylation site, promotes conformational changes and increases coactivator binding. We further demonstrate via fluorine-19 (19F) nuclear magnetic resonance that mutations near I33 alter 19F chemical shifts at S118, confirming the proposed I33-S118 contact in the ensemble of structural disorder. As a result, these findings extend our understanding of how specific contact metastability mediates critical functions of disordered proteins.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
GM114056; AC02-98CH10886; EB009998; SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1598049
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1498275
Report Number(s):
BNL-211316-2019-JAAM; S0969212618303873; PII: S0969212618303873
Journal Information:
Structure, Journal Name: Structure Vol. 27 Journal Issue: 2; ISSN 0969-2126
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 27 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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