Taxonomic distribution of proteins containing PAC domains

The tree below includes only several representative species and genera. The complete taxonomic breakdown of all proteins containing PAC domains can be accessed here. Click the counts or percentage values to display the corresponding proteins.

Photoactive yellow protein: a structural prototype for the three-dimensional fold of the PAS domain superfamily.

Pellequer JL, Wager-Smith KA, Kay SA, Getzoff ED
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998; 95: 5884-90

PAS domains are found in diverse proteins throughout all three kingdoms of life, where they apparently function in sensing and signal transduction. Although a wealth of useful sequence and functional information has become recently available, these data have not been integrated into a three-dimensional (3D) framework. The very early evolutionary development and diverse functions of PAS domains have made sequence analysis and modeling of this protein superfamily challenging. Limited sequence similarities between the approximately 50-residue PAS repeats and one region of the bacterial blue-light photosensor photoactive yellow protein (PYP), for which ground-state and light-activated crystallographic structures have been determined to high resolution, originally were identified in sequence searches using consensus sequence probes from PAS-containing proteins. Here, we found that by changing a few residues particular to PYP function, the modified PYP sequence probe also could select PAS protein sequences. By mapping a typical approximately 150-residue PAS domain sequence onto the entire crystallographic structure of PYP, we show that the PAS sequence similarities and differences are consistent with a shared 3D fold (the PAS/PYP module) with obvious potential for a ligand-binding cavity. Thus, PYP appears to prototypically exhibit all the major structural and functional features characteristic of the PAS domain superfamily: the shared PAS/PYP modular domain fold of approximately 125-150 residues, a sensor function often linked to ligand or cofactor (chromophore) binding, and signal transduction capability governed by heterodimeric assembly (to the downstream partner of PYP). This 3D PAS/PYP module provides a structural model to guide experimental testing of hypotheses regarding ligand-binding, dimerization, and signal transduction.

CYCLE is a second bHLH-PAS clock protein essential for circadian rhythmicity and transcription of Drosophila period and timeless.

Rutila JE, Suri V, Le M, So WV, Rosbash M, Hall JC
Cell. 1998; 93: 805-14

We report the identification, characterization, and cloning of another novel Drosophila clock gene, cycle (cyc). Homozygous cyc flies are completely arrhythmic. Heterozygous cyc/+ flies are rhythmic but have altered periods, indicating that the cyc locus has a dosage effect on period. The molecular circadian phenotype of homozygous cyc flies is like homozygous Clk flies presented in the accompanying paper: mutant flies have little or no transcription of the per and tim genes. Cloning of the gene indicates that it also encodes a bHLH-PAS transcription factor and is a Drosophila homolog of the human protein BMAL1. cyc is a nonsense mutation, consistent with its strong loss-of-function phenotype. We propose that the CYC:CLK heterodimer binds to per and tim E boxes and makes a major contribution to the circadian transcription of Drosophila clock genes.

PAS: a multifunctional domain family comes to light.

Ponting CP, Aravind L
Curr Biol. 1997; 7: 6747-6747

The PAS domain confers target gene specificity of Drosophila bHLH/PAS proteins.

Zelzer E, Wappner P, Shilo BZ
Genes Dev. 1997; 11: 2079-89

Trachealess (Trh) and Single-minded (Sim) are highly similar Drosophila bHLH/PAS transcription factors. They activate nonoverlapping target genes and induce diverse cell fates. A single Drosophila gene encoding a bHLH/PAS protein homologous to the vertebrate ARNT protein was isolated and may serve as a partner for both Trh and Sim. We show that Trh and Sim complexes recognize similar DNA-binding sites in the embryo. To examine the basis for their distinct target gene specificity, the activity of Trh-Sim chimeric proteins was monitored in embryos. Replacement of the Trh PAS domain by the analogous region of Sim was sufficient to convert it into a functional Sim protein. The PAS domain thus mediates all the features conferring specificity and the distinct recognition of target genes. The normal expression pattern of additional proteins essential for the activity of the Trh or Sim complexes can be inferred from the induction pattern of target genes and binding-site reporters, triggered by ubiquitous expression of Trh or Sim. We postulate that the capacity of bHLH/PAS heterodimers to associate, through the PAS domain, with additional distinct proteins that bind target-gene DNA, is essential to confer specificity.

PAS domain S-boxes in Archaea, Bacteria and sensors for oxygen and redox.

Zhulin IB, Taylor BL, Dixon R
Trends Biochem Sci. 1997; 22: 331-3

1.4 A structure of photoactive yellow protein, a cytosolic photoreceptor: unusual fold, active site, and chromophore.

Borgstahl GE, Williams DR, Getzoff ED
Biochemistry. 1995; 34: 6278-87

A photosensing protein directs light energy captured by its chromophore into a photocycle. The protein's structure must accommodate the photocycle and promote the resulting chemical or conformational changes that lead to signal transduction. The 1.4 A crystallographic structure of photoactive yellow protein, determined by multiple isomorphous replacement methods, provides the first view at atomic resolution of a protein with a photocycle. The alpha/beta fold, which differs from the original chain tracing, shows striking similarity to distinct parts of the signal transduction proteins profilin and the SH2 domain. In the dark state structure of photoactive yellow protein, the novel 4-hydroxycinnamyl chromophore, covalently attached to Cys69, is buried within the major hydrophobic core of the protein and is tethered at both ends by hydrogen bonds. In the active site, the yellow anionic form of the chromophore is stabilized by hydrogen bonds from the side chains of Tyr42 and buried Glu46 to the phenolic oxygen atom and by electrostatic complementarity with the positively charged guanidinium group of Arg52. Thr50 further interlocks Tyr42, Glu46, and Arg52 through a network of active site hydrogen bonds. Arg52, located in a concavity of the protein surface adjacent to the dominant patch of negative electrostatic potential, shields the chromophore from solvent and is positioned to form a gateway for the phototactic signal. Overall, the high-resolution structure of photoactive yellow protein supports a mechanism whereby electrostatic interactions create an active site poised for photon-induced rearrangements and efficient protein-mediated signal transduction.