Grb2 SH3 binding to peptides from Sos: evaluation of a general model for SH3-ligand interactions Original Research Article

Background: Grb2 acts as an adaptor protein in the transduction of signals from receptor tyrosine kinases to Ras. It binds to phosphotyrosine on the cytoplasmic tail of cell-surface receptors via its central SH2 domain, and to its immediate downstream target, Sos, via two SH3 domains. The basis of the Grb2-Sos interaction is not fully understood. We previously proposed a model for SH3 domain binding specificity, based on two solution structures of the Src SH3 domain complexed with high-affinity ligands, in which the ligands are bound in a polyproline type II conformation in two distinct orientations, class I and class II. Here, we have used this model to predict the identity and orientation of Grb2 SI-13 ligands in the human Sos protein.