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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Computational Prediction of Amino Acid Preferences of Potentially Multispecific Peptide-Binding Domains Involved in Protein-Protein Interactions
Published on: January 26, 2024
An unconventional IAP-binding motif revealed by target-assisted iterative screening (TAIS) of the BIR3-cIAP1 domain
Alexei Kurakin1, Dale E Bredesen
1The Buck Institute for Age Research, 8001 Redwood Blvd., Novato, CA 94945, USA. akourakine@buckinstitute.org
Target-assisted iterative screening (TAIS) has been applied to a random phage-displayed peptide library in a search for novel ligands of the third baculovirus IAP ('inhibitors of apoptosis') repeat (BIR) domain of cIAP1. The peptides selected in the screen fall into two distinct specificity groups, one that conforms to a known IAP-binding motif (IBM) and another one that reveals a novel BIR domain interacting motif, NH(2)-SR(V/P)W. The biochemical profiling of selected sequences with synthetic peptides, which included alanine scanning and N- and C-terminal truncations as well as competition with the Smac peptide, suggests a major energetic contribution of tryptophan at the +4 position of peptide ligands to binding and identifies the latter together with the respective pocket on the BIR domain surface as a 'hot spot' of the interaction. A peptide featuring the novel motif selectively binds the full-length cIAP1 protein in cell lysates. A 'two-pocket' model of BIR domain recognition mechanism is proposed as the basis of differential BIR domain interactions with different IBMs.
Target-assisted iterative screening (TAIS) has been applied to a random phage-displayed peptide library in a search for novel ligands of the third baculovirus IAP ('inhibitors of apoptosis') repeat (BIR) domain of cIAP1. The peptides selected in the screen fall into two distinct specificity groups, one that conforms to a known IAP-binding motif (IBM) and another one that reveals a novel BIR domain interacting motif, NH(2)-SR(V/P)W. The biochemical profiling of selected sequences with synthetic peptides, which included alanine scanning and N- and C-terminal truncations as well as competition with the Smac peptide, suggests a major energetic contribution of tryptophan at the +4 position of peptide ligands to binding and identifies the latter together with the respective pocket on the BIR domain surface as a 'hot spot' of the interaction. A peptide featuring the novel motif selectively binds the full-length cIAP1 protein in cell lysates. A 'two-pocket' model of BIR domain recognition mechanism is proposed as the basis of differential BIR domain interactions with different IBMs.
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