Protein-protein interactions of PDE4 family members - Functions, interactions and therapeutic value

The second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is ubiquitous and directs a plethora of functions in all cells. Although theoretically freely diffusible through the cell from the site of its synthesis it is not evenly distributed. It rather is shaped into gradients and these gradients are established by phospodiesterases (PDEs), the only enzymes that hydrolyse cAMP and thereby terminate cAMP signalling upstream of cAMP's effector systems. Miles D. Houslay has devoted most of his scientific life highly successfully to a particular family of PDEs, the PDE4 family. The family is encoded by four genes and gives rise to around 20 enzymes, all with different functions. M. Houslay has discovered many of these functions and realised early on that PDE4 family enzymes are attractive drug targets in a variety of human diseases, but not their catalytic activity as that is encoded in conserved domains in all family members. He postulated that targeting the intracellular location would provide the specificity that modern innovative drugs require to improve disease conditions with fewer side effects than conventional drugs. Due to the wealth of M. Houslay's work, this article can only summarize some of his discoveries and, therefore, focuses on protein-protein interactions of PDE4. The aim is to discuss functions of selected protein-protein interactions and peptide spot technology, which M. Houslay introduced into the PDE4 field for identifying interacting domains. The therapeutic potential of PDE4 interactions will also be discussed.