Molecular Mechanism of Regulation of the Atypical Protein Kinase C by N-terminal Domains and an Allosteric Small Compound

Protein kinases play important regulatory roles in cells and organisms. Therefore, they are subject to specific and tight mechanisms of regulation that ultimately converge on the catalytic domain and allow the kinases to be activated or inhibited only upon the appropriate stimuli. AGC protein kinases have a pocket in the catalytic domain, the PDK1-interacting fragment (PIF)-pocket, which is a key mediator of the activation. We show here that helix alpha C within the PIF-pocket of atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) is the target of the interaction with its inhibitory N-terminal domains. We also provide structural evidence that the small compound PS315 is an allosteric inhibitor that binds to the PIF-pocket of aPKC. PS315 exploits the physiological dynamics of helix aC for its binding and allosteric inhibition. The results will support research on allosteric mechanisms and selective drug development efforts against PKC isoforms.