RESUMO
Brain wiring depends on cells making highly localized and selective connections through surface protein-protein interactions, including those between NetrinGs and NetrinG ligands (NGLs). The NetrinGs are members of the structurally uncharacterized netrin family. We present a comprehensive crystallographic analysis comprising NetrinG1-NGL1 and NetrinG2-NGL2 complexes, unliganded NetrinG2 and NGL3. Cognate NetrinG-NGL interactions depend on three specificity-conferring NetrinG loops, clasped tightly by matching NGL surfaces. We engineered these NGL surfaces to implant custom-made affinities for NetrinG1 and NetrinG2. In a cellular patterning assay, we demonstrate that NetrinG-binding selectivity can direct the sorting of a mixed population of NGLs into discrete cell surface subdomains. These results provide a molecular model for selectivity-based patterning in a neuronal recognition system, dysregulation of which is associated with severe neuropsychological disorders.
Assuntos
Proteínas Ligadas por GPI/metabolismo , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/metabolismo , Receptores de Superfície Celular/metabolismo , Proteínas Ligadas por GPI/química , Proteínas Ligadas por GPI/genética , Células HEK293 , Humanos , Ligantes , Glicoproteínas de Membrana/química , Glicoproteínas de Membrana/genética , Glicoproteínas de Membrana/metabolismo , Modelos Biológicos , Modelos Moleculares , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/química , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/genética , Netrinas , Ligação Proteica/genética , Ligação Proteica/fisiologia , Conformação Proteica , Receptores de Superfície Celular/química , Receptores de Superfície Celular/genética , Sinapses/metabolismo , Distribuição Tecidual , TransfecçãoRESUMO
GABAA receptors are pentameric ligand-gated chloride channels of crucial importance for the vertebrate nervous system physiology. They typically modulate the fast inhibitory neurotransmission, and represent the target receptors for major classes of drugs used in the clinic, such as benzodiazepines and general anesthetics. Recent technological progress in structural biology, in particular single-particle cryo-electron microscopy, has led to fundamental advances in understanding the detailed organization and signalling mechanisms of major GABAA receptor subtypes. This effort culminated with the high-resolution structural analysis of an intact, full-length human heteropentameric receptor, α1ß3γ2, in a lipid bilayer and in complex with small molecule ligands including the commonly used benzodiazepines diazepam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax). These structures reveal multiple aspects of receptor activation and provide a path for rational design of subunit-specific GABAA receptor modulators.
Assuntos
Receptores de GABA-A/química , Receptores de GABA-A/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Humanos , Ativação do Canal Iônico , Farmacologia , Domínios ProteicosRESUMO
Type IIB receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) are bi-functional cell surface molecules. Their ectodomains mediate stable, homophilic, cell-adhesive interactions, whereas the intracellular catalytic regions can modulate the phosphorylation state of cadherin/catenin complexes. We describe a systematic investigation of the cell-adhesive properties of the extracellular region of RPTPmu, a prototypical type IIB RPTP. The crystal structure of a construct comprising its N-terminal MAM (meprin/A5/mu) and Ig domains was determined at 2.7 A resolution; this assigns the MAM fold to the jelly-roll family and reveals extensive interactions between the two domains, which form a rigid structural unit. Structure-based site-directed mutagenesis, serial domain deletions and cell-adhesion assays allowed us to identify the four N-terminal domains (MAM, Ig, fibronectin type III (FNIII)-1 and FNIII-2) as a minimal functional unit. Biophysical characterization revealed at least two independent types of homophilic interaction which, taken together, suggest that there is the potential for formation of a complex and possibly ordered array of receptor molecules at cell contact sites.