Conformational Dynamics of the Free MAX Protein Revealed by Well-Tempered Metadynamics

The MAX protein is a key transcriptional regulator that partners with the c-MYC oncoprotein and other members of the MYC/MAX/MAD network to control genes involved in fundamental cellular processes such as growth, differentiation, metabolism, and apoptosis. The transcriptional and tumorigenic activities of MYC mainly depend on its association with MAX. In its unbound state, MAX exhibits partially disordered regions, complicating structural characterization and limiting conventional drug discovery approaches that rely on the existence of well-defined binding pockets and ignore dynamical aspects of protein structures.

To address these challenges, we employed the enhanced-sampling well-tempered metadynamics method to systematically explore the conformational space of the unbound MAX protein. Our results revealed, for the first time, a well-defined and thermo-dynamically favorable conformation of monomeric MAX. This is a remarkable finding, as it demonstrates that regions of MAX previously considered persistently disordered are capable of adopting stable, folded structures under specific conditions. Moreover, our findings also suggest that the meta-stable structural motifs observed in this work may harbor druggable sites, particularly relevant for strategies aiming to target MAX directly or to disrupt its interaction with MYC, thereby modulating oncogenic signaling pathways. The present study establishes a new structural framework for understanding the dynamics of MAX and provides a foundation for future structure-based drug design targeting the MYC/MAX axis. Finally, our work offers a strategic blueprint for investigating similarly challenging drug targets.