Activation loop phosphorylation tunes conformational dynamics underlying Pyk2 tyrosine kinase activation

Pyk2 is a multidomain non-receptor tyrosine kinase that undergoes a complex, multi-stage activation process. Ca2+-flux induces conformational rearrangements that relieve autoinhibitory FERM domain interactions. The kinase domain phosphorylates a key linker residue to recruit Src kinase. Pyk2 and Src mutually phosphorylate activation loop residues to confer full activation. While the mechanisms of autoinhibition are established, the conformational dynamics associated with autophosphorylation and Src recruitment remain unclear. Here, we employ hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) to map the conformational changes associated with Src-mediated activation segment phosphorylation in a Pyk2 construct encompassing FERM and kinase domains (residues 20-692). Results reveal increased dynamics at regulatory interfaces spanning FERM and kinase domains. Phosphorylation of the activation segment stabilizes two antiparallel beta strands linking activation and catalytic loops. Increased dynamics of the C-terminal end of the activation loop propagate to the F-helix, explaining how phosphorylation prevents reversion to the autoinhibitory FERM interaction. HDX-guided site-directed mutagenesis and kinase activity profiling establish a mechanism for phosphorylation-induced active site sculpting to confer high activity.