Sestrin2 is a GATOR2 interacting protein that directly binds leucine and is required for the inhibition of mTORC1 under leucine deprivation, indicating that it is a leucine sensor for the mTORC1 pathway. We recently reported the structure of Sestrin2 in complex with leucine (PDB ID: 5DJ4), and demonstrated that mutations in the leucine-binding pocket alter the affinity of Sestrin2 for leucine and result in a corresponding change in the leucine sensitivity of mTORC1 in cells. A lower resolution structure of human Sestrin2 (PDB ID: 5CUF), which was crystallized in the absence of exogenous leucine, showed Sestrin2 to be in a nearly identical conformation as the leucine-bound structure. Based on this observation, it has been argued that leucine binding does not affect the conformation of Sestrin2 and thus that Sestrin2 may not be a sensor for leucine. Here, we show that simple analysis of the reported “apo”-Sestrin2 structure reveals the clear presence of prominent, unmodeled electron density in the leucine-binding pocket that exactly accommodates the leucine observed in the higher resolution structure. Refining the reported “apo”-structure with leucine eliminates the large F O-F C difference density at this position and improves the working and free R-factors of the model. Consistent with this, our own structure of Sestrin2 crystallized in the absence of exogenous leucine also contains electron density that is best explained by leucine. Thus, the structure of apo-Sestrin2 remains elusive.
See how this article has been cited at scite.ai
scite shows how a scientific paper has been cited by providing the context of the citation, a classification describing whether it supports, mentions, or contrasts the cited claim, and a label indicating in which section the citation was made.