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. 2010 Aug 6;285(32):24584-90.
doi: 10.1074/jbc.M110.131680. Epub 2010 Jun 1.

All mammalian Hedgehog proteins interact with cell adhesion molecule, down-regulated by oncogenes (CDO) and brother of CDO (BOC) in a conserved manner

Affiliations

All mammalian Hedgehog proteins interact with cell adhesion molecule, down-regulated by oncogenes (CDO) and brother of CDO (BOC) in a conserved manner

Jennifer M Kavran et al. J Biol Chem. .

Abstract

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling proteins stimulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and tissue patterning at multiple points in animal development. A single Hh homolog is present in Drosophila, but three Hh homologs, Sonic Hh, Indian Hh, and Desert Hh, are present in mammals. Distribution, movement, and reception of Hh signals are tightly regulated, and abnormal Hh signaling is associated with developmental defects and cancer. In addition to the integral membrane proteins Patched and Smoothened, members of the Drosophila Ihog family of adhesion-like molecules have recently been shown to bind Hh proteins with micromolar affinity and positively regulate Hh signaling. Cell adhesion molecule-related, down-regulated by oncogenes (CDO) and Brother of CDO (BOC) are the closest mammalian relatives of Drosophila Ihog, and CDO binds Sonic Hh with micromolar affinity and positively regulates Hh signaling. Despite these similarities, structural and biochemical studies have shown that Ihog and CDO utilize nonorthologous domains and completely different binding modes to interact with cognate Hh proteins. We report here biochemical and x-ray structural studies of Sonic, Indian, and Desert Hh proteins both alone and complexed with active domains of CDO and BOC. These results show that all mammalian Hh proteins bind CDO and BOC in the same manner. We also show that interactions between Hh proteins and CDO are weakened at low pH. Formation of Hh-mediated Hh oligomers is thought to be an important feature of normal Hh signaling, but no conserved self-interaction between Hh proteins is apparent from inspection of 14 independent Hh-containing crystal lattices.

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Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
HhN-binding mode is not conserved across phyla. A, ribbon diagram of the heparin-dependent complex between Drosophila HhN (green) bound to IhogFn12 (tan). B, ribbon diagram of the calcium-dependent complex between ShhN (yellow) bound to CDOFn3 (purple). The zinc ion is shown as a hot pink sphere, and the two calcium ions are shown as cyan spheres. In both panels the HhN protein is also displayed as a semitransparent surface to highlight the different binding surfaces used during complex formation.
FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 2.
Binding affinities. ITC data for (A) ShhN and BOCFn3, (B) IhhN and BOCFn3, (C) DhhN and BOCFn3, and (D) DhhN and CDOFn3 are shown. Each interaction was 1:1, and the derived dissociation constants are indicated.
FIGURE 3.
FIGURE 3.
Calcium-dependent binding mode is sensitive to pH. Coomassie Brilliant Blue-stained SDS-PAGE results showing the amount of CDOFn3 pulled down by ShhN-coupled resin at pH 8 (lane 3), pH 7 (lane 4), or pH 6 (lane 5). Lane 1 is a negative control using blank resin to pull down CDOFn3.
FIGURE 4.
FIGURE 4.
Conserved structure of HhN. Ribbon diagrams of superimposed Drosophila HhN (green), ShhN (yellow), IhhN (light blue), and DhhN (red). The zinc (hot pink) and calcium (cyan) ions present in some mammalian HhN structures are shown as spheres.
FIGURE 5.
FIGURE 5.
All mammalian Hh proteins bind in the same fashion to CDO and BOC. Ribbon diagrams show the conserved binding mode between complexes of mammalian HhN proteins with either CDOFn3 or BOCFn3. The zinc (hot pink) and calcium (cyan) ions are displayed as spheres. A, superposition of complexes between IhhN (light blue) and either CDOFn3 (violet) or BOCFn3 (orange). B, superposition of complexes between BOCFn3 and either IhhN or DhhN (red). C, superposition of complexes between CDOFn3 and either ShhN (yellow), IhhN, or DhhN.
FIGURE 6.
FIGURE 6.
Binding interfaces are highly conserved. Close-up views of the binding interfaces between (A) CDOFn3 and ShhN, IhhN, or DhhN and (B) BOCFn3 and IhhN or DhhN. In each panel the backbones of HhN (gray), CDOFn3 (violet), or BOCFn3 (orange) are represented as ribbon diagrams. Calcium (cyan) and zinc (hot pink) ions are represented as spheres. The amino acid numbering is given for ShhN. The residues that mediate each interface are displayed as sticks. ShhN residues are displayed in yellow, and their contacts in CDO are displayed in pale yellow, the residues of IhhN and their contacts in CDO/BOC are shown in dark blue or light blue, and the residues of DhhN and their contacts in CDO/BOC are shown in red or salmon. Contact residues are identified as those with atoms within 4 Å of one another.
FIGURE 7.
FIGURE 7.
Buried surface areas. Scatter plot of the surface area buried for each HhN·HhN lattice contact. A dashed line is shown at 500 Å2, which represents a minimal threshold of the buried surface area believed required for a biological contact (39). Set 1 represents the two HhN molecules that form the C-terminal peptide/zinc cleft contact in the ShhN structure (31), and Set 2 represents the two HhN molecules that form a His tag-mediated lattice contact in the DhhN structure (32). An arrow indicates the lattice contact in the ShhN structure previously suggested to represent a possible HhN oligomer interface (23).

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