A docking study of enhanced intracellular survival protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis with human DUSP16/MKP-7

The intracellular pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) causes tuberculosis, and one of its secreted effector proteins, called enhanced intracellular survival (Eis) protein, enhances its survival in macrophages. Mtb Eis activates JNK-specific dual-specificity protein phosphatase 16 (DUSP16)/mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-7 (MKP-7) through the acetylation on Lys55, thus inactivating JNK by dephosphorylation. Based on the recently reported crystal structure of Mtb Eis, a docking model for the binding of Mtb Eis to DUSP16/MKP-7 was generated. In the docking model, the substrate helix containing Lys55 of DUSP16/MKP-7 fits nicely into the active-site cleft of Mtb Eis; the twisted β-sheet of Eis domain II embraces the substrate helix from one side. Most importantly, the side-chain of Lys55 is inserted toward acetyl-CoA and the resulting distance is 4.6 Å between the NZ atom of Lys55 and the carbonyl carbon of the acetyl group in acetyl-CoA. The binding of Mtb Eis and DUSP16/MKP-7 is maintained by strong electrostatic interactions. The active-site cleft of Mtb Eis has a negatively charged surface formed by Asp25, Glu138, Asp286, Glu395 and the terminal carboxylic group of Phe396. In contrast, DUSP16/MKP-7 contains five basic residues, Lys52, Lys55, Arg56, Arg57 and Lys62, which point toward the negatively charged surface of the active-site pocket of Mtb Eis. Thus, the current docking model suggests that the binding of DUSP16/MKP-7 to Mtb Eis should be established by charge complementarity in addition to a very favorable geometric arrangement. The suggested mode of binding requires the dissociation of the hexameric Mtb Eis into dimers or monomers. This study may be useful for future studies aiming to develop inhibitors of Mtb Eis as a new anti-tuberculosis drug candidate.