Vertebrate members of the nuclear receptor NR5A subfamily, which includes steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1) and liver receptor homolog 1 (LRH-1), regulate crucial aspects of development, endocrine homeostasis, and metabolism. Mouse LRH-1 is believed to be a ligand-independent transcription factor with a large and empty hydrophobic pocket. Here we present structural and biochemical data for three other NR5A members-mouse and human SF-1 and human LRH-1-which reveal that these receptors bind phosphatidyl inositol second messengers and that ligand binding is required for maximal activity. Evolutionary analysis of structure-function relationships across the SF-1/LRH-1 subfamily indicates that ligand binding is the ancestral state of NR5A receptors and was uniquely diminished or altered in the rodent LRH-1 lineage. We propose that phospholipids regulate gene expression by directly binding to NR5A nuclear receptors.

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Motor proteins of the kinesin superfamily transport intracellular cargo along microtubules. Although different kinesin proteins share 30-50% amino-acid identity in their motor catalytic cores, some move to the plus end of microtubules whereas others travel in the opposite direction. Crystal structures of the catalytic cores of conventional kinesin (a plus-end-directed motor involved in organelle transport) and ncd (a minus-end-directed motor involved in chromosome segregation) are nearly identical; therefore, the structural basis for their opposite directions of movement is unknown. Here we show that the ncd 'neck' made up of 13 class-specific residues next to the superfamily-conserved catalytic core, is essential for minus-end-directed motility, as mutagenesis of these neck residues reverses the direction of ncd motion. By solving the 2.5 A structure of a functional ncd dimer, we show that the ncd neck (a coiled-coil) differs from the corresponding region in the kinesin neck (an interrupted beta-strand), although both necks interact with similar elements in the catalytic cores. The distinct neck architectures also confer different symmetries to the ncd and kinesin dimers and position these motors with appropriate directional bias on the microtubule.

Kinesin motors convert chemical energy from ATP hydrolysis into unidirectional movement. To understand how kinesin motors bind to and move along microtubules, we fit the atomic structure of the motor domain of Ncd (a kinesin motor involved in meiosis and mitosis) into three-dimensional density maps of Ncd-microtubule complexes calculated by cryo-electron microscopy and image analysis. The model reveals that Ncd shares an extensive interaction surface with the microtubule, and that a portion of the binding site involves loops that contain conserved residues. In the Ncd dimer, the microtubule-bound motor domain makes intimate contact with its partner head, which is dissociated from the microtubule. This head-head interaction may be important in positioning the dissociated head to take a step to the next binding site on the microtubule protofilament.

The orphan nuclear receptors SF-1 and LRH-1 are constitutively active, but it remains uncertain whether their activation is hormone dependent. We report the crystal structure of the LRH-1 ligand binding domain to 2.4 A resolution and find the receptor to be a monomer that adopts an active conformation with a large but empty hydrophobic pocket. Adding bulky side chains into this pocket resulted in full or greater activity suggesting that, while LRH-1 could accommodate potential ligands, these are dispensable for basal activity. Constitutive LRH-1 activity appears to be conferred by a distinct structural element consisting of an extended helix 2 that provides an additional layer to the canonical LBD fold. Mutating the conserved arginine in helix 2 reduced LRH-1 receptor activity and coregulator recruitment, consistent with the partial loss-of-function phenotype exhibited by an analogous SF-1 human mutant. These findings illustrate an alternative structural strategy for nuclear receptor stabilization in the absence of ligand binding.

Kinesin is the founding member of a superfamily of microtubule based motor proteins that perform force-generating tasks such as organelle transport and chromosome segregation. It has two identical approximately 960-amino-acid chains containing an amino-terminal globular motor domain, a central alpha-helical region that enables dimer formation through a coiled-coil, and a carboxy-terminal tail domain that binds light chains and possibly an organelle receptor. The kinesin motor domain of approximately 340 amino acids, which can produce movement in vitro, is much smaller than that of myosin (approximately 850 amino acids) and dynein (1,000 amino acids), and is the smallest known molecular motor. Here, we report the crystal structure of the human kinesin motor domain with bound ADP determined to 1.8-A resolution by X-ray crystallography. The motor consists primarily of a single alpha/beta arrowhead-shaped domain with dimensions of 70 x 45 x 45 A. Unexpectedly, it has a striking structural similarity to the core of the catalytic domain of the actin-based motor myosin. Although kinesin and myosin have virtually no amino-acid sequence++ identity, and exhibit distinct enzymatic and motile properties, our results suggest that these two classes of mechanochemical enzymes evolved from a common ancestor and share a similar force-generating strategy.

The signaling phosphatidylinositol lipids PI(4,5)P 2 (PIP 2 ) and PI (3,4,5)P 3 (PIP 3 ) bind nuclear receptor 5A family (NR5As), but their regulatory mechanisms remain unknown. Here, the crystal structures of human NR5A1 (steroidogenic factor-1, SF-1) ligand binding domain (LBD) bound to PIP 2 and PIP 3 show the lipid hydrophobic tails sequestered in the hormone pocket, as predicted. However, unlike classic nuclear receptor hormones, the phosphoinositide head groups are fully solvent-exposed and complete the LBD fold by organizing the receptor architecture at the hormone pocket entrance. The highest affinity phosphoinositide ligand PIP 3 stabilizes the coactivator binding groove and increases coactivator peptide recruitment. This receptor-ligand topology defines a previously unidentified regulatory protein-lipid surface on SF-1 with the phosphoinositide head group at its nexus and poised to interact with other proteins. This surface on SF-1 coincides with the predicted binding site of the corepressor DAX-1 (dosage-sensitive sex reversal, adrenal hypoplasia critical region on chromosome X), and importantly harbors missense mutations associated with human endocrine disorders. Our data provide the structural basis for this poorly understood cluster of human SF-1 mutations and demonstrates how signaling phosphoinositides function as regulatory ligands for NR5As.T he existence of nuclear, nonmembrane pools of signaling phosphorylated derivatives of phosphatidylinositols or phosphoinositides (PIP n ) was reported over two decades ago (1-3). Consistent with these early reports, lipid-modifying enzymes responsible for phosphoinositide metabolism were also found in the nucleus (4-7); however, the function of PIP n in this cellular compartment remains poorly defined. The nuclear receptors (NRs) steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1, NR5A1) and liver receptor homolog 1 (LRH-1, NR5A2) bind phosphoinositides as well as other phospholipids in their large hydrophobic pockets (8-13). The ability of NR5As to interact with PIP n is well-conserved with the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog nhr-25 able to bind both PIP 2 and PIP 3 (14). That phosphoinositides might serve as endogenous NR5A ligands is suggested by the fact that elevating cellular pools of PIP 3 increases SF-1 activity (15) and that impairing PIP 3 uptake decreases SF-1 activity (12). Further, when purified from mammalian cells, the phosphoinositide PIP 2 is found associated with SF-1 and can be modified by the lipid kinase, IPMK, as well as the lipid phosphatase, PTEN (13). Taken together, these data suggest that signaling phosphoinositides are biologically relevant ligands for SF-1.Phosphoinositide ligands diverge chemically from classic NR hormones in that they contain a long, extended hydrophobic moiety and a prominent hydrophilic head group, which is inherently incompatible with the hydrophobic core of the NR5A ligand-binding pocket. Our previous structural analyses of SF-1 bound to phosphatidylcholine suggest that the acyl tails of phosphoinositides should be sequestered...

An essential regulator of gene transcription, nuclear receptor liver receptor homologue 1 (LRH-1) controls cell differentiation in the developing pancreas and maintains cholesterol homeostasis in adults. Recent genome-wide association studies linked mutations in the LRH-1 gene and its up-stream regulatory regions to development of pancreatic cancer. In this work, we show that LRH-1 transcription is activated up to 30-fold in human pancreatic cancer cells compared to normal pancreatic ductal epithelium. This activation correlates with markedly increased LRH-1 protein expression in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas in vivo. Selective blocking of LRH-1 by receptor specific siRNA significantly inhibits pancreatic cancer cell proliferation in vitro. The inhibition is tracked in part to the attenuation of the receptor's transcriptional targets controlling cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation. Previously, LRH-1 was shown to contribute to formation of intestinal tumors. This study demonstrates the critical involvement of LRH-1 in development and progression of pancreatic cancer, suggesting the LRH-1 receptor as a plausible therapeutic target for treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas.protein target | gene regulation W ith mortality rate nearing its incidence, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) presents a challenge for modern oncology. Current chemotherapy drugs approved for pancreatic cancer are not organ specific and are modestly effective. Thus, there is a need for improved therapeutic options and effective pancreatic cancer drugs. Recent studies reveal that signaling pathways are similar in pancreatic development and malignant growth in the adult pancreas (1, 2). One of the common driving factors in pancreatic embryo-and oncogenesis is the nuclear receptor liver receptor homologue 1 (LRH-1,