Protein Cell 2010, 1(4): 406–416 Protein & Cell DOI 10.1007/s13238-010-0049-3 RESEARCH ARTICLE Crystal structures of NAC domains of human nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) and its αNAC subunit ✉ Lanfeng Wang1, Wenchi Zhang1, Lu Wang1, Xuejun C.Zhang1, Xuemei Li1, Zihe Rao1,2,3 1 National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Road, Beijing 100101, China 2 Structure Biology Laboratory, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China 3 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Science, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China ✉ Correspondence:
[email protected] Received March 28, 2010 Accepted April 12, 2010 ABSTRACT binding with other cytosolic factors (Wiedmann et al., 1994). This complex is widely conserved from archaea to human. Nascent polypeptide associated complex (NAC) and its Some NAC mutants induce early embryonically lethal two isolated subunits, αNAC and βNAC, play important phenotypes in mice, fruit fly, and Caenorhabditis elegans roles in nascent peptide targeting. We determined a 1.9 Å (Deng and Behringer, 1995; Markesich et al., 2000). Experi- resolution crystal structure of the interaction core of NAC ments to determine NAC intracellular localization and heterodimer and a 2.4 Å resolution crystal structure of distribution show that the vast majority of NAC is in the αNAC NAC domain homodimer. These structures provide cytoplasm as a stable heterodimer, and no single subunit and detailed information of NAC heterodimerization and homo-oligomer has been observed under physiologic condi- αNAC homodimerization. We found that the NAC tions (Beatrix et al., 2000). However, drastic variations of domains of αNAC and βNAC share very similar folding relative concentration between the two NAC subunits are despite of their relative low identity of amino acid found in patients of Alzheimer’s disease, Down syndrome, sequences.