Engineering extrinsic disorder to control protein activity in living cells.
Dagliyan, O., Tarnawski, M., Chu, P.H., Shirvanyants, D., Schlichting, I., Dokholyan, N.V., Hahn, K.M.(2016) Science 354: 1441-1444
- PubMed: 27980211 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah3404
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
5HZH, 5HZI, 5HZJ, 5HZK - PubMed Abstract: 
Optogenetic and chemogenetic control of proteins has revealed otherwise inaccessible facets of signaling dynamics. Here, we use light- or ligand-sensitive domains to modulate the structural disorder of diverse proteins, thereby generating robust allosteric switches. Sensory domains were inserted into nonconserved, surface-exposed loops that were tight and identified computationally as allosterically coupled to active sites. Allosteric switches introduced into motility signaling proteins (kinases, guanosine triphosphatases, and guanine exchange factors) controlled conversion between conformations closely resembling natural active and inactive states, as well as modulated the morphodynamics of living cells. Our results illustrate a broadly applicable approach to design physiological protein switches.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Program in Molecular and Cellular Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.