Open-closed motion of Mint2 regulates APP metabolism
Xie, X., Yan, X., Wang, Z., Zhou, H., Diao, W., Zhou, W., Long, J., Shen, Y.(2013) J Mol Cell Biol 5: 48-56
- PubMed: 22730553 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjs033
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
3SUZ, 3SV1 - PubMed Abstract: 
The amyloid-β protein precursor (APP) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Knock-out and transgenic mouse studies of the adaptor protein Mint2 have revealed that it is a major player in regulating APP metabolism physiologically through the binding of its phosphotyrosine-binding (PTB) domain to the intracellular domain of APP. However, the molecular mechanism of APP dynamically binding to Mint2 remains elusive. Here, we report the structures of APP peptide-free and APP peptide-bound C-terminal Mint2 mutants at resolutions of 2.7 and 3.3 Å, respectively. Our structures reveal that APP peptide-free Mint2 exists in a closed state in which the ARM domain blocks the peptide-binding groove of the PTB domain. In sharp contrast, APP peptide-bound Mint2 exists in an open state in which the ARM domain drastically swings away from the bound peptide. Mutants that control the open-closed motion of Mint2 dynamically regulated APP metabolism both in vitro and in vivo. Our results uncover a novel open-closed mechanism of the PTB domain dynamically binding to its peptide substrate. Moreover, such a conformational switch may represent a general regulation mode of APP family members by Mint proteins, providing useful information for the treatment of AD.
Organizational Affiliation: 
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China.