Primary Citation of Related Structures:   1OPJ, 1OPK, 1OPL
PubMed Abstract: 
c-Abl is normally regulated by an autoinhibitory mechanism, the disruption of which leads to chronic myelogenous leukemia. The details of this mechanism have been elusive because c-Abl lacks a phosphotyrosine residue that triggers the assembly of the autoinhibited form of the closely related Src kinases by internally engaging the SH2 domain ...
c-Abl is normally regulated by an autoinhibitory mechanism, the disruption of which leads to chronic myelogenous leukemia. The details of this mechanism have been elusive because c-Abl lacks a phosphotyrosine residue that triggers the assembly of the autoinhibited form of the closely related Src kinases by internally engaging the SH2 domain. Crystal structures of c-Abl show that the N-terminal myristoyl modification of c-Abl 1b binds to the kinase domain and induces conformational changes that allow the SH2 and SH3 domains to dock onto it. Autoinhibited c-Abl forms an assembly that is strikingly similar to that of inactive Src kinases but with specific differences that explain the differential ability of the drug STI-571/Gleevec/imatinib (STI-571) to inhibit the catalytic activity of Abl, but not that of c-Src.
Related Citations: 
A myristoyl/phosphotyrosine switch regulates c-Abl Hantschel, O., Nagar, B., Guettler, S., Kretzschmar, J., Dorey, K., Kuriyan, J., Superti-Furga, G. (2003) Cell 112: 845
Organizational Affiliation: 
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.