In the field of

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

, PDPK1 refers to the

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1, an

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

which is encoded by the ''PDPK1''

gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

in humans. It is implicated in the development and progression of

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

Function

PDPK1 is a master

kinase In biochemistry, a kinase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of phosphate groups from high-energy, phosphate-donating molecules to specific substrates. This process is known as phosphorylation, where the high-energy ATP molecule don ...

, which is crucial for the activation of AKT/PKB and many other AGC kinases including PKC, S6K, SGK. An important role for PDPK1 is in the signaling pathways activated by several growth factors and hormones including

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

signaling. Mice lacking PDPK1 die during early embryonic development, indicating that this enzyme is critical for transmitting the growth-promoting signals necessary for normal mammalian development. Mice that are deficient in PDPK1 have a ≈40% decrease in body mass, mild glucose intolerance, and are resistant to cancer brought about by hyperactivation of the PI3K pathway (PTEN+/-). Plant PDK1 plays an important role in regulating PIN-mediated auxin transport, and is thus involved in various developmental processes, such as embryonic development, lateral root formation, vasculature patterning, apical hook formation, gravitropism and phototropism.

Etymology

PDPK1 stands for 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1. PDPK1 functions downstream of

PI3K Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks), also called phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases, are a family of enzymes involved in cellular functions such as cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, motility, survival and intracellular trafficking, which i ...

through PDPK1's interaction with membrane phospholipids including phosphatidylinositols, phosphatidylinositol (3,4)-bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate.

indirectly regulates PDPK1 by phosphorylating phosphatidylinositols which in turn generates phosphatidylinositol (3,4)-bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate. However, PDPK1 is believed to be constitutively active and does not always require phosphatidylinositols for its activities. Phosphatidylinositols are only required for the activation at the membrane of some substrates including AKT. PDPK1 however does not require membrane lipid binding for the efficient phosphorylation of most of its substrates in the cytosol (not at the cell membrane).

Structure

The structure of PDPK1 can be divided into two domains; the kinase or catalytic domain and the PH domain. The PH domain functions mainly in the interaction of PDPK1 with phosphatidylinositol (3,4)-bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate which is important in localization and activation of some of membrane associated PDPK1's substrates including AKT. The kinase domain has three

ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule with a functional group that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's el ...

binding sites; the substrate binding site, the ATP binding site, and the docking site (also known as PIF pocket). Several PDPK1 substrates including S6K and

Protein kinase C In cell biology, protein kinase C, commonly abbreviated to PKC (EC 2.7.11.13), is a family of protein kinase enzymes that are involved in controlling the function of other proteins through the phosphorylation of hydroxyl groups of serine and t ...

, require the binding at this docking site. Small molecule allosteric activators of PDPK1 were shown to selectively inhibit activation of substrates that require docking site interaction. These compounds do not bind to the active site and allow PDPK1 to activate other substrates that do not require docking site interaction. PDPK1 is constitutively active and at present, there is no known inhibitor proteins for PDPK1. The activation of PDPK1's main effector, AKT, is believed to require a proper orientation of the kinase and PH domains of PDPK1 and AKT at the membrane.

Interactions

Phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 has been shown to interact with: *

AKT1 RAC(Rho family)-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''AKT1'' gene. This enzyme belongs to the AKT subfamily of serine/threonine kinases that contain SH2 (Src homology 2-like) protein domains. It ...

, * PKN2, *

PRKACA The catalytic subunit α of protein kinase A is a key regulatory enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''PRKACA'' gene. This enzyme is responsible for phosphorylating other proteins and substrates, changing their activity. Protein kinase A catal ...

, *

PRKCD Protein kinase C delta type (or PKC-δ) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''PRKCD'' gene. Function Protein kinase C (PKC) is a family of serine- and threonine-specific protein kinases that can be activated by the second messeng ...

, * PRKCI, * Protein kinase Mζ, * Protein kinase N1, * SGK, * SLC9A3R2, and *

YWHAH 14-3-3 protein eta also referred to as 14-3-3η is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''YWHAH'' gene. Function This gene product belongs to the 14-3-3 family of proteins that are normally intracellular in nature and help to mediate si ...

References

External links