Rapid identification of ligand-binding sites by using an assignment-free NMR approach.

Yuya Kodama, Koh Takeuchi, Nobuhisa Shimba, Kohki Ishikawa, Ei-ichiro Suzuki, Ichio Shimada, Hideo Takahashi

Index: J. Med. Chem. 56(22) , 9342-50, (2013)

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Abstract

In this study, we developed an assignment-free approach for rapid identification of ligand-binding sites in target proteins by using NMR. With a sophisticated cell-free stable isotope-labeling procedure that introduces (15)N- or (13)C-labels to specific atoms of target proteins, this approach requires only a single series of ligand titrations with labeled targets. Using titration data, ligand-binding sites in the target protein can be identified without time-consuming assignment procedures. We demonstrated the feasibility of this approach by using structurally well-characterized interactions between mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase p38α and its inhibitor 2-amino-3-benzyloxypyridine. Furthermore, we confirmed the recently proposed fatty acid binding to p38α and confirmed the fatty acid-binding site in the MAP kinase insert region.