TY - JOUR UR - https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.27554v2 DO - 10.7287/peerj.preprints.27554v2 TI - Structural basis of response regulator function AU - Gao,Rong AU - Bouillet,Sophie AU - Stock,Ann DA - 2019/03/21 PY - 2019 KW - histidine kinase KW - response regulator KW - phosphorylation KW - signal transduction KW - transcription factor KW - two-component system AB - Response regulators function as the output components of two-component systems, which couple the sensing of environmental stimuli to adaptive responses. Response regulators typically contain conserved receiver (REC) domains that function as phosphorylation-regulated switches to control the activities of effector domains that elicit output responses. This modular design is extremely versatile, enabling different regulatory strategies tuned to the needs of individual signaling systems. This review summarizes functional features that underlie response regulator function. An abundance of atomic resolution structures and complementary biochemical data have defined the mechanisms for response regulator enzymatic activities, revealed trends in regulatory strategies utilized by response regulators of different subfamilies and provided insights into interactions of response regulators with their cognate histidine kinases. Among the hundreds of thousands of response regulators identified, variations abound. This article provides a framework for understanding structural features that enable function of canonical response regulators and a basis for distinguishing non-canonical configurations. VL - 7 SP - e27554v2 T2 - PeerJ Preprints JO - PeerJ Preprints J2 - PeerJ Preprints SN - 2167-9843 ER -