Structural Basis for Discrimination of 3-phosphoinositides by Pleckstrin Homology Domains

Pleckstrin homology (PH) domains are protein modules of around 120 amino acids found in many proteins involved in cellular signaling. Certain PH domains drive signal-dependent membrane recruitment of their host proteins by binding strongly and specifically to lipid second messengers produced by agonist-stimulated phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI 3-Ks). We describe X-ray crystal structures of two different PH domains bound to Ins(1,3,4,5)P4, the head group of the major PI 3-K product PtdIns(3,4,5)P3. One of these PH domains (from Grp1) is PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 specific, while the other (from DAPP1/PHISH) binds strongly to both PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 and its 5'-dephosphorylation product, PtdIns(3,4)P2. Comparison of the two structures provides an explanation for the distinct phosphoinositide specificities of the two PH domains and allows us to predict the 3-phosphoinositide selectivity of uncharacterized PH domains.