Journal of Biological Chemistry
Volume 286, Issue 36, 9 September 2011, Pages 31742-31748
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Protein Structure and Folding
Crystal Structure of Menin Reveals Binding Site for Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) Protein*

https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M111.258186Get rights and content
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Menin is a tumor suppressor protein that is encoded by the MEN1 (multiple endocrine neoplasia 1) gene and controls cell growth in endocrine tissues. Importantly, menin also serves as a critical oncogenic cofactor of MLL (mixed lineage leukemia) fusion proteins in acute leukemias. Direct association of menin with MLL fusion proteins is required for MLL fusion protein-mediated leukemogenesis in vivo, and this interaction has been validated as a new potential therapeutic target for development of novel anti-leukemia agents. Here, we report the first crystal structure of menin homolog from Nematostella vectensis. Due to a very high sequence similarity, the Nematostella menin is a close homolog of human menin, and these two proteins likely have very similar structures. Menin is predominantly an α-helical protein with the protein core comprising three tetratricopeptide motifs that are flanked by two α-helical bundles and covered by a β-sheet motif. A very interesting feature of menin structure is the presence of a large central cavity that is highly conserved between Nematostella and human menin. By employing site-directed mutagenesis, we have demonstrated that this cavity constitutes the binding site for MLL. Our data provide a structural basis for understanding the role of menin as a tumor suppressor protein and as an oncogenic co-factor of MLL fusion proteins. It also provides essential structural information for development of inhibitors targeting the menin-MLL interaction as a novel therapeutic strategy in MLL-related leukemias.

Protein Motifs
Protein Structure
Protein-Protein Interactions
Tumor Suppressor Gene
X-ray Crystallography
Mixed Lineage Leukemia
Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia 1

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The atomic coordinates and structure factors (code 3RE2) have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank, Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (http://www.rcsb.org/).

*

This work was supported by Research Scholar Grant RSG-11-082-01-DMC from the American Chemical Society (to T. C.) and a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Translational Research Program grant (to J. G.).

The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental Table S1 and Fig. S1.