Structure of the regulatory domains of the Src-family tyrosine kinase Lck

Abstract

THE kinase p56^lck (Lck) is a T-lymphocyte-specific member of the Src family of non-receptor tyrosine kinases¹. Members of the Src family each contain unique amino-terminal regions, followed by Src-homology domains SH3 and SH2, and a tyrosine kinase domain. SH3 and SH2 domains mediate critical protein interactions in many signal-transducing pathways². They are small, independently folded modules of about 60 and 100 residues, respectively, and they are often but not always found together in the same molecule. Like all nine Src-family kinases (reviewed in ref. 3), Lck is regulated by phosphorylation of a tyrosine in the short C-terminal tail of its catalytic domain⁴. There is evidence that binding of the phosphorylated tail to the SH2 domain inhibits catalytic activity of the kinase domain^5,6 and that the SH3 and SH2 domains may act together to effect this regulation⁷. Here we report the crystal structures for a fragment of Lck bearing its SH3 and SH2 domains, alone and in complex with a phosphotyrosyl peptide containing the sequence of the Lck C-terminal regulatory tail. The latter complex represents the regulatory apparatus of Lck. The SH3–SH2 fragment forms similar dimers in both crystals, and the tail peptide binds at the intermolecular SH3/SH2 contact. The two structures show how an SH3 domain might recognize a specific target and suggest how dimerization could play a role in regulating Src-family kinases.