Structural basis of Shank PDZ interaction with the C-terminal peptide of GKAP protein and the mode of PDZ domain dimerization

We have crystallized and determined the structures o the Shank PDZ domain, alone and in complex with the synthetic C-terminal hexapeptide of GKAP protein at resolutions of 1.8Å and 2.5Å, respectively. The structure revealed the structural basis of the ligand recongition by Class I PDZ-ligand interaction. Moreover, dimeric structureof shank PDZ domain suggests that the βA strand is a common surface for dimerization of PDZ domains.