Qiao, F., Song, H., Kim, C.A., Sawaya, M.R., Hunter, J.B., Ginery, M., Rebay, I., Courey, A.J., Bowie, J.U. (2004). Derepression by depolymerization: structural insights into the regulation of Yan by Mae.  Cell 118(2): 163--173.

FBrf0179754

Research paper

Yan, an ETS family transcriptional repressor, is regulated by receptor tyrosine kinase signaling via the Ras/MAPK pathway. Phosphorylation and downregulation of Yan is facilitated by a protein called Mae. Yan and Mae interact through their SAM domains. We find that repression by Yan requires the formation of a higher order structure mediated by Yan-SAM polymerization. Moreover, a crystal structure of the Yan-SAM/Mae-SAM complex shows that Mae-SAM specifically recognizes a surface on Yan-SAM that is also required for Yan-SAM polymerization. Mae-SAM binds to Yan-SAM with approximately 1000-fold higher affinity than Yan-SAM binds to itself and can effectively depolymerize Yan-SAM. Mutations on Mae that specifically disrupt its SAM domain-dependent interactions with Yan disable the derepression function of Mae in vivo. Depolymerization of Yan by Mae represents a novel mechanism of transcriptional control that sensitizes Yan for regulation by receptor tyrosine kinases.