KRAS interaction with RAF1 RAS-binding domain and cysteine-rich domain provides insights into RAS-mediated RAF activation
Open Access
- 19 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Communications
- Vol. 12 (1), 1-16
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21422-x
Abstract
The first step of RAF activation involves binding to active RAS, resulting in the recruitment of RAF to the plasma membrane. To understand the molecular details of RAS-RAF interaction, we present crystal structures of wild-type and oncogenic mutants of KRAS complexed with the RAS-binding domain (RBD) and the membrane-interacting cysteine-rich domain (CRD) from the N-terminal regulatory region of RAF1. Our structures reveal that RBD and CRD interact with each other to form one structural entity in which both RBD and CRD interact extensively with KRAS. Mutations at the KRAS-CRD interface result in a significant reduction in RAF1 activation despite only a modest decrease in binding affinity. Combining our structures and published data, we provide a model of RAS-RAF complexation at the membrane, and molecular insights into RAS-RAF interaction during the process of RAS-mediated RAF activation.Keywords
Funding Information
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Cancer Institute (HHSN261200800001E)
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