Deciphering the unique autoregulatory mechanisms and substrate specificity of the understudied DCLK3 kinase linked to neurodegenerative diseases

Protein kinases represent one of the largest and most druggable protein families. Despite considerable progress in their understanding, approximately one-third of human kinases remain poorly characterized, known as the "dark" kinome. Doublecortin-like kinase 3 (DCLK3), a member of this elusive group, has emerged for its involvement in neuroprotection in Huntington's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Still, its cellular substrates and regulatory functions remain unknown, hindering progress in therapeutic intervention. Unlike its paralog, DCLK1, whose regulation involves a C-terminal segment docking into the ATP-binding pocket, DCLK3 lacks such a tail, suggesting divergent regulatory mechanisms. Through computational and experimental analyses, we discovered that DCLK3 autophosphorylates its truncated tail, tethering it to the catalytic domain in a manner distinct from DCLK1. Using a deep learning model trained on peptide-library datasets, we predicted Tau, a microtubule-associated protein, as a putative DCLK3 substrate, which we validated using in vitro assays and mass spectrometry. Additionally, DCLK3 exhibits a relatively fast turnover with a cellular half-life of approximately 15 h that can be rescued by MG132-mediated proteasomal inhibition, which results in DCLK3 polyubiquitination and cellular accumulation. Collectively, these results provide the first structural and functional insights into DCLK3, revealing a unique autoregulatory mechanism and a potential therapeutic target for neurodegenerative disorders.