Mapping the binding interface of ERK and transcriptional repressor Capicua using photocrosslinking. Author Alan Futran, Saw Kyin, Stanislav Shvartsman, A James Link Publication Year 2015 Type Journal Article Abstract Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) coordinates cellular responses to a range of stimuli by phosphorylating its numerous substrates. One of these substrates, Capicua (Cic), is a transcriptional repressor that was first identified in Drosophila and has been implicated in a number of human diseases. Here we use a chemical biology approach to map the binding interface of ERK and Cic. The noncanonical amino acid p-azidophenylalanine (AzF) was introduced into the ERK-binding region of Drosophila Cic, and photocrosslinking and tandem mass spectrometry were used to pinpoint its binding site on ERK. We also identified the ERK-binding region of human Cic and showed that it binds to the same site on ERK despite lacking conservation with the Drosophila Cic binding region. Finally, we mapped the amino acids involved in human Cic binding to ERK using AzF-labeled ERK. These results reveal the molecular details of the ERK-Cic interaction and demonstrate that the photocrosslinking approach is complementary to existing methods for mapping kinase-substrate binding interfaces. Keywords Repressor Proteins, Animals, Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Molecular Sequence Data, Humans, Binding Sites, Amino Acid Sequence, Mass Spectrometry, Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases, HMGB Proteins, Photochemical Processes Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Volume 112 Issue 28 Pages 8590-5 Date Published 2015 Jul 14 ISSN Number 1091-6490 DOI 10.1073/pnas.1501373112 Alternate Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A PMCID PMC4507193 PMID 26124095 PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML