A 10 kDa dynein light chain (DLC), previously identified as a tail light chain of myosin Va, may function as a cargo-binding and/or regulatory subunit of both myosin and dynein. Here, we identify and characterize the binding site of DLC on myosin Va. Fragments of the human myosin Va tail and the DLC2 isoform were expressed, and their complex formation was analyzed by pull-down assays, gel filtration, and spectroscopic methods. DLC2 was found to bind as a homodimer to a approximately 15 residue segment (Ile1280-Ile1294) localized between the medial and distal coiled-coil domains of the tail. The binding region contains the three residues coded by the alternatively spliced exon B (Asp1284-Lys1286). Removal of exon B eliminates DLC2 binding. Co-localization experiments in a transfected mammalian cell line confirm our finding that exon B is essential for DLC2 binding. Using circular dichroism, we demonstrate that binding of DLC2 to a approximately 85 residue disordered domain (Pro1235-Arg1320) induces some helical structure and stabilizes both flanking coiled-coil domains (melting temperature increases by approximately 7 degrees C). This result shows that DLC2 promotes the assembly of the coiled-coil domains of myosin Va. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and docking simulations show that a 15 residue peptide (Ile1280-Ile1294) binds to the surface grooves on DLC2 similarly to other known binding partners of DLCs. When our data are taken together, they suggest that exon B and its associated DLC2 have a significant effect on the structure of parts of the coiled-coil tail domains and such a way could influence the regulation and cargo-binding function of myosin Va.

LC8 dynein light chain (DYNLL) is a highly conserved eukaryotic hub protein with dozens of binding partners and various functions beyond being a subunit of dynein and myosin Va motor proteins. Here, we compared the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of binding of both mammalian isoforms, DYNLL1 and DYNLL2, to two putative consensus binding motifs (KXTQTX and XG(I/V)QVD) and report only subtle differences. Peptides containing either of the above motifs bind to DYNLL2 with micromolar affinity, whereas a myosin Va peptide (lacking the conserved Gln) and the noncanonical Pak1 peptide bind with K d values of 9 and 40 M, respectively. Binding of the KXTQTX motif is enthalpy-driven, although that of all other peptides is both enthalpy-and entropy-driven. Moreover, the KXTQTX motif shows strikingly slower off-rate constant than the other motifs. As most DYNLL partners are homodimeric, we also assessed the binding of bivalent ligands to DYNLL2. Compared with monovalent ligands, a significant avidity effect was found as follows: K d values of 37 and 3.5 nM for a dimeric myosin Va fragment and a Leu zipper dimerized KXTQTX motif, respectively. Ligand binding kinetics of DYNLL can best be described by a conformational selection model consisting of a slow isomerization and a rapid binding step. We also studied the binding of the phosphomimetic S88E mutant of DYNLL2 to the dimeric myosin Va fragment, and we found a significantly lower apparent K d value (3 M). We conclude that the thermodynamic and kinetic fine-tuning of binding of various ligands to DYNLL could have physiological relevance in its interaction network.