N-terminal Src homology 2 (nSH2) domain found in p85
Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are essential for cell growth, migration, and survival. p110, the catalytic subunit, is composed of an adaptor-binding domain, a Ras-binding domain, a C2 domain, a helical domain, and a kinase domain. The regulatory unit is called p85 and is composed of an SH3 domain, a RhoGap domain, a N-terminal SH2 (nSH2) domain, an internal SH2 (iSH2) domain, and C-terminal (cSH2) domain. There are 2 inhibitory interactions between p110alpha and p85 of P13K: (1) p85 nSH2 domain with the C2, helical, and kinase domains of p110alpha and (2) p85 iSH2 domain with C2 domain of p110alpha. There are 3 inhibitory interactions between p110beta and p85 of P13K: (1) p85 nSH2 domain with the C2, helical, and kinase domains of p110beta, (2) p85 iSH2 domain with C2 domain of p110alpha, and (3) p85 cSH2 domain with the kinase domain of p110alpha. It is interesting to note that p110beta is oncogenic as a wild type protein while p110alpha lacks this ability. One explanation is the idea that the regulation of p110beta by p85 is unique because of the addition of inhibitory contacts from the cSH2 domain and the loss of contacts in the iSH2 domain. In general SH2 domains are involved in signal transduction. They typically bind pTyr-containing ligands via two surface pockets, a pTyr and hydrophobic binding pocket, allowing proteins with SH2 domains to localize to tyrosine phosphorylated sites.
Jiyao W et al.(2023). "The conserved domain database in 2023.",