C1188D mutation abolishes specific recognition between MLL1-CXXC domain and CpG site by inducing conformational switch of flexible N-terminal.

Mixed lineage leukemia protein (MLL1 protein) recognizes the CpG site via its CXXC domain and is frequently associated with leukemia. The specific recognition is abolished by C1188D mutation, which also prevents MLL-related leukemia. In this paper, multiple molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were performed to investigate the mechanism of recognition and influences of C1188D mutation. Started from fully dissociated DNA and MLL1-CXXC domain, remarkably, the center of mass (COM) of MLL1-CXXC domain quickly concentrates on the vicinity of the CpG site in all 53 short MD simulations. Extended simulations of the wild type showed that the native complex formed in 500 ns among 4 of 53 simulations. In contrast, the C1188D mutant COM distributed broadly around the DNA and the native complex was not observed in any of the extended simulations. Simulations on the apo MLL1-CXXC domain further suggest that the wild type protein remained predominantly in an open form that closely resembles its structure in the native complex whereas C1188D mutant formed predominantly compact structures in which the N- terminal bends to D1188. This conformational switch hinders the formation of encounter complex, thus abolishes the recognition. Our study also provides clues to the study mechanism of recognition, by the CXXC domain from proteins like DNA methyltransferase and ten-eleven translocation enzymes.