Evolution and engineering of allosteric regulation in protein kinases

Allosteric regulation - the control of protein function by sites far from the active site - is a common feature of proteins that enables dynamic cellular responses. Reversible modifications such as phosphorylation are well suited to mediate such regulatory dynamics, yet the evolution of new allosteric regulation demands explanation. To understand this, we mutationally scanned the surface of a prototypical kinase to identify readily evolvable phosphorylation sites. The data reveal a set of spatially distributed hotspots that coevolve with the active site and preferentially modulate kinase activity. By engineering simple consensus phosphorylation sites at these hotspots we successfully rewired in vivo cell signaling. Beyond synthetic biology, the hotspots are frequently used by the diversity of natural allosteric regulatory mechanisms in the kinase family and exploited in human disease.