Structural basis of focal adhesion targeting domain-mediated signaling in cardiac hypertrophy

The focal adhesion targeting (FAT) domain of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) exists in monomeric closed (c) or arm exchanged (ae) dimeric state. FAT interaction with Grb2 necessitates an intermediate open (o) state that interacts with Grb2 and activates signaling pathways leading to pathological cardiac hypertrophy. Targeted molecular dynamics (TMD) simulation was carried out in order to capture the structure of the intermediate formed by opening of Helix1 (H1) from monomeric cFAT leading to the formation of monomeric aeFAT. During TMD, H1 separated from the four helices bundle of cFAT, completely unfolded and performed a full turn before folding back to a helix inclined at an acute angle to the helical bundle in aeFAT. The entire transition can be described in six distinct intermediate structural stages. The most significant correlation of H1 motion was observed with Loop3 (L3) and is the likely reason for the complete disruption of the FAT interaction with paxillin during the transition. High-affinity analogs of the paxillin LD4 region can be a promising strategy to drive the equilibrium towards cFAT, thus antagonizing FAT-Grb2 association. During transition, the overall shift in orientation of all the four helices rejects paxillin binding and approves Grb2 association. Exposure and β-turn conformation of the YENV motif (residues 925-928) in oFAT-facilitated phosphorylation and Grb2 binding. Docking, MD simulation and conservation analysis of oFAT-Grb2 complex provided insight into the structural determinants of binding and specificity. Our work provides a structural basis for pharmacological modulation of dynamic conformational changes and interactions of FAT.