Conformational changes in Akt1 activation probed by amide hydrogen/deuterium exchange and nano‐electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Amide hydrogen exchange coupled to nano‐electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (nano‐ESI‐MS) has been used to identify and characterize localized conformational changes of Akt upon activation. Active or inactive Akt was incubated in D₂O buffer, digested with pepsin, and analyzed by nano‐ESI‐MS to determine the deuterium incorporation. The hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange profiles revealed that Akt undergoes considerable conformational changes in the core structures of all three individual domains after activation. In the PH domain, four β‐strand (β1, β2 β5 and β6) regions containing membrane‐binding residues displayed higher solvent accessibility in the inactive state, suggesting that the PH domain is readily available for the binding to the plasma membrane for activation. In contrast, these β‐strands became less exposed or more folded in the active form, which is favored for the dissociation of Akt from the membrane. The beginning α‐helix J region and the C‐terminal locus (T450‐470P) of the regulatory domain showed less folded structures that probably enable substrate entry. Our data also revealed detailed conformational changes of Akt in the kinase domain due to activation, some of which may be attributed to the interaction of the basic residues with phosphorylation sites. Our H/D exchange results indicating the conformational status of Akt at different activation states provided new insight for the regulation of this critical protein involved in cell survival. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.