Structure and Function of the Death Effector FADD

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This proposal will investigate how a subclass of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family (TNFRs), termed death receptors (DRs), assembles a stereospecific complex at the cytoplasmic surface to initiate programmed cell death (PCD). The C-terminal domain of DRs is composed of a conserved six helix bundle known as the death domain (DD). The DD forms the nucleus of a multiprotein complex about which the enzymatic and regulatory components of the PCD machinery assemble to transduce a death stimulus into a biochemical response. DDs are present in both the receptor and its regulatory components, a.k.a. death effectors, of the death complex. The death effector through which nearly all death signals proceed is FADD. Upon ligand binding, a death receptor recruits FADD and the initiator caspase, FLICE/caspase-8, to initiate PCD. FADD is comprised of two protein interaction motifs, the DD and a second motif known as the death effector domain (DED). To define the architecture of death receptor/FADD interaction, the three dimensional structure of FADD (208 a.a.) is to be determined in solution and its binding surfaces for three death receptors-Fas, DR5 and DR3- are to be identified by site-directed mutagenesis and reconstitution of the signaling complex in vitro. The preliminary, structure and biochemical experiments demonstrate that the Fas/FADD interaction is dependent on both the DD and DED domains of FADD along a contiguous surface which traverses both domains. This surface is remarkably similar to the DD interaction surface of Drosophila Tube, a DD-containing protein unrelated to PCD. This suggests that the binding mechanism of DD-containing proteins is conserved. A novel death receptor mimic has been synthesized to reconstitute the signaling complex in vitro. This mimic will be used to identify the binding surfaces and specificity determinants for all three death receptor/FADD interactions using a combination of gel filtration, analytical centrifugation and mutagenesis. The molecular mechanism for FLICE/caspase-8 recruitment into the receptor/FADD complex is also to be determined and preliminary evidence is presented to define the FADD binding surface for FLICE/caspase-8. Finally, the action of a brain-specific antagonist of FADD function, PEA-15, will be characterized. The structure of PEA-15 and its binding mechanism to FADD in the signaling complex will be determined. The sum of these efforts will provide the first comprehensive picture of the architecture of a death-inducing signaling complex. The outcome of this study can form the basis for understanding how different death receptors use their cognate effectors to activate a specific death response.