Structures of human MAP kinase kinase 1 (MEK1) and MEK2 describe novel noncompetitive kinase inhibition.
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Ohren JF, Chen H, Pavlovsky A, Whitehead C, Zhang E, Kuffa P, Yan C, McConnell P, Spessard C, Banotai C, Mueller WT, Delaney A, Omer C, Sebolt-Leopold J, Dudley DT, Leung IK, Flamme C, Warmus J, Kaufman M, Barrett S, Tecle H, Hasemann CA
Structures of human MAP kinase kinase 1 (MEK1) and MEK2 describe novel noncompetitive kinase inhibition.
Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2004 Dec;11(12):1192-7. Epub 2004 Nov 14.
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- 15543157 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
MEK1 and MEK2 are closely related, dual-specificity tyrosine/threonine protein kinases found in the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Approximately 30% of all human cancers have a constitutively activated MAPK pathway, and constitutive activation of MEK1 results in cellular transformation. Here we present the X-ray structures of human MEK1 and MEK2, each determined as a ternary complex with MgATP and an inhibitor to a resolution of 2.4 A and 3.2 A, respectively. The structures reveal that MEK1 and MEK2 each have a unique inhibitor-binding pocket adjacent to the MgATP-binding site. The presence of the potent inhibitor induces several conformational changes in the unphosphorylated MEK1 and MEK2 enzymes that lock them into a closed but catalytically inactive species. Thus, the structures reported here reveal a novel, noncompetitive mechanism for protein kinase inhibition.