Image of two strands of Dishevelled DIX filaments, superimposed on a picture of the protein taken using cryo-electron microscopy. Image credit: Kan et al. (CC BY 4.0)
Stem cells can give rise to many types of specialized cells through a process called differentiation, which is partly regulated by changes in the levels of a protein known as β-catenin. On one hand, a ‘destruction complex’ can keep β-catenin levels low; this complex includes a protein called Axin and an enzyme known as GSK-3, which can tag β-catenin for degradation. On the other hand, when β-catenin levels need to increase, another protein called Dishevelled is activated. By binding to Axin, Dishevelled can bring the destruction complex in contact with other proteins, which leads to the deactivation of GSK-3.
Dishevelled and Axin interact via a region that is similar in the two proteins, called DIX in Dishevelled and DAX in Axin. Studies of DIX and DAX have shown that both regions can form polymers – that is, a high number of similar units can bind together to form larger structures. However, these experiments were at higher concentrations than would be found in the cell. It was thought that, when combined, DIX and DAX might form these long chains together, preventing Axin from carrying out its role in destroying β-catenin. Kan et al. set out to better understand this process by studying how DIX and DAX behave separately, and how they interact.
The proteins were examined using a technique called cryo-electron microscopy, which allows scientists to dissect the structure of large proteins. When there was a high concentration of DIX in the sample, the molecules attached to one another to form long double-stranded helices. Similarly, DAX also formed helices, but these were shorter and only single-stranded. When the two proteins were combined, DAX bound only to the ends of short DIX chains, so that there are not more than four DAX chains attached to each DIX double helix.
To see if this behaviour happens naturally, Kan et al. attached fluorescent tags to Dishevelled proteins and followed them in living cells: this showed that Dishevelled forms smaller chains with fewer than ten molecules. Together these results highlight how Dishevelled binds to Axin to deactivate GSK-3, to prevent the enzyme from promoting β-catenin destruction.
Mutations in the genes that encode β-catenin or its regulators are associated with cancer. Ultimately, a better understanding of how β-catenin is regulated could help to identify new opportunities for drug development.
