Journal
NATURE STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
Volume 8, Issue 3, Pages 248-253Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/84995
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Smad proteins mediate the transforming growth factor beta responses. C-terminal phosphorylation of R-Smads leads to the recruitment of Smad4 and the formation of active signaling complexes. We investigated the mechanism of phosphorylation-induced Smad complex formation with an activating pseudo-phosphorylates Smad3. Pseudo-phosphorylated Smad3 has a greater propensity to homotrimerize, and recruits Smad4 to form a heterotrimer containing two Smad3 and one Smad4. The trimeric interaction is mediated through conserved interfaces to which tumorigenic mutations map. Furthermore, a conserved Arg residue within the L3 loop, located near the C-terminal phosphorylation sites of the neighboring subunit, is essential for trimerization. We propose that the phosphorylated C-terminal residues interact with the L3 loop of the neighboring subunit to stabilize the trimer interaction.
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