c‑Abl Tyrosine Kinase Adopts Multiple Active Conformational States in Solution

Protein tyrosine kinases of the Abl family have diverse roles in normal cellular regulation and drive several forms of leukemia as oncogenic fusion proteins. In the crystal structure of the inactive c-Abl kinase core, the SH2 and SH3 domains dock onto the back of the kinase domain, resulting in a compact, assembled state. This inactive conformation is stabilized by the interaction of the myristoylated N-cap with a pocket in the C-lobe of the kinase domain. Mutations that perturb these intramolecular interactions result in kinase activation. Here, we present X-ray scattering solution structures of multidomain c-Abl kinase core proteins modeling diverse active states. Surprisingly, the relative positions of the regulatory N-cap, SH3, and SH2 domains in an active myristic acid binding pocket mutant (A356N) were virtually identical to those of the assembled wild-type kinase core, indicating that Abl kinase activation does not require dramatic reorganization of the downregulated core structure. In contrast, the positions of the SH2 and SH3 domains in a clinically relevant imatinib-resistant gatekeeper mutant (T315I) appear to be reconfigured relative to their positions in the wild-type protein. Our results demonstrate that c-Abl kinase activation can occur either with (T315I) or without (A356N) global allosteric changes in the core, revealing the potential for previously unrecognized signaling diversity

N-Myristoylated c-Abl Tyrosine Kinase Localizes to the Endoplasmic Reticulum upon Binding to an Allosteric Inhibitor*

Allosteric kinase inhibitors hold promise for revealing unique features of kinases that may not be apparent using conventional ATP-competitive inhibitors. Here we explore the activity of a previously reported allosteric inhibitor of BCR-Abl kinase, GNF-2, against two cellular isoforms of Abl tyrosine kinase: one that carries a myristate in the N terminus and the other that is deficient in N-myristoylation. Our results show that GNF-2 inhibits the kinase activity of non-myristoylated c-Abl more potently than that of myristoylated c-Abl by binding to the myristate-binding pocket in the C-lobe of the kinase domain. Unexpectedly, indirect immunofluorescence reveals a translocation of myristoylated c-Abl to the endoplasmic reticulum in GNF-2-treated cells, whereas GNF-2 has no detectable effect on the localization of non-myristoylated c-Abl. These results indicate that GNF-2 competes with the NH2-terminal myristate for binding to the c-Abl kinase myristate-binding pocket and that the exposed myristoyl group accounts for the localization to the endoplasmic reticulum. We also demonstrate that GNF-2 can inhibit enzymatic and cellular kinase activity of Arg, a kinase highly homologous to c-Abl, which is also likely to be regulated through intramolecular binding of an NH2-terminal myristate lipid. These results suggest that non-ATP-competitive inhibitors, such as GNF-2, can serve as chemical tools that can discriminate between c-Abl isoform-specific behaviors