CASK is a unique scaffold protein in the synapse system. It links numerous proteins to the pre- or post-synaptic region and is critical to the homeostasis of synaptic vesicles. The N-terminus of CASK is a calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CAMK) domain, which has diverse functions and interacts with downstream proteins to form a scaffold platform. Caskin1 is one of the brain-specific adaptor proteins of CASK. Here we crystalized the Caskin1_CASK interaction domain (CID) and CASK_CAMK. Comprehensive X-ray crystallographic study of Caskin1_CID/CASK_CAMK complex and following biochemical/ cell biology experiments uncovered the interaction codes governing CASK_CAMK and its binding partners. Previous studies showed that CASK_CAMK domain interacts with Caskin1 CID domain with relatively low affinity. In this study, we re-visit this interaction by re-mapping the interaction boundary and solving their complex structure. Based on the structure, we systematically compared the interactions between CASK_CAMK and other binding partners. Our results showed that CAMK domain occupy the CID peptide by using its C-lobe groove (between the α1 and α2) and there is a highly conserved signature motif (ζ-x-ψ-W-ψ-x-R) in the CID domain, where ζ is acidic side chain containing residues, x is any amino acid residue, ψ is hydrophobic residues, W is for tryptophan, and R is arginine. These findings allowed us to identify several new potential cytoplasmic binding partners for CASK_CAMK.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.