LPA3 agonist-producing Bacillus velezensis ADS024 is efficacious in multiple neuroinflammatory disease models.

Neuroinflammation is a common component of neurological disorders. In the gut-brain-immune axis, bacteria and their metabolites are now thought to play a role in the modulation of the nervous and immune systems which may impact neuroinflammation. In this respect, commensal bacteria of humans have recently been shown to produce metabolites that mimic endogenous G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) ligands. To date, it has not been established whether plant commensal bacteria, which may be ingested by animals including humans, can impact the gut-brain-immune axis via GPCR agonism. We screened an isopropanol (IPA) extract of the plant commensal Bacillus velezensis ADS024, a non-engrafting live biotherapeutic product (LBP) with anti-inflammatory properties isolated from human feces, against a panel of 168 GPCRs and identified strong agonism of the lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor LPA3. The ADS024 IPA extracted material (ADS024-IPA) did not agonize LPA2, and only very weakly agonized LPA1. The agonism of LPA3 was inhibited by the reversible LPA1/3 antagonist Ki16425. ADS024-IPA signaled downstream of LPA3 through G-protein-induced calcium release, recruitment of ß-arrestin, and recruitment of the neurodegeneration-associated proteins 14-3-3γ, ε and ζ but did not recruit the ß isoform. Since LPA3 agonism was previously indirectly implicated in the reduction of pathology in models of Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) by use of the nonselective antagonist Ki16425, and since we identified an LPA3-specific agonist within ADS024, we sought to examine whether LPA3 might indeed be part of a broad underlying mechanism to control neuroinflammation. We tested oral treatment of ADS024 in multiple models of neuroinflammatory diseases using three models of PD, two models of MS, and a model each of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington's disease (HD), and chemo-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). ADS024 treatment improved model-specific functional effects including improvements in motor movement, breathing and swallowing, and allodynia suggesting that ADS024 treatment impacted a universal underlying neuroinflammatory mechanism regardless of the initiating cause of disease. We used the MOG-EAE mouse model to examine early events after disease initiation and found that ADS024 attenuated the increase in circulating lymphocytes and changes in neutrophil subtypes, and ADS024 attenuated the early loss of cell-surface LPA3 receptor expression on circulating white blood cells. ADS024 efficacy was partially inhibited by Ki16425 in vivo suggesting LPA3 may be part of its mechanism. Altogether, these data suggest that ADS024 and its LPA3 agonism activity should be investigated further as a possible treatment for diseases with a neuroinflammatory component.

Modulating GPCR and 14-3-3 protein interactions: Prospects for CNS drug discovery.

The activation of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) triggers a series of protein-protein interaction events that subsequently induce a chain of reactions, including alteration of receptor structures, phosphorylation, recruitment of associated proteins, protein trafficking and gene expression. Multiple GPCR signaling transduction pathways are evident - two well-studied pathways are the GPCR-mediated G-protein and ß-arrestin pathways. Recently, ligand-induced interactions between GPCRs and 14-3-3 proteins have been demonstrated. This linking of GPCRs to 14-3-3 protein signal hubs opens up a whole new realm of signal transduction possibilities. 14-3-3 proteins play a key part in GPCR trafficking and signal transduction. GPCR-mediated 14-3-3 protein signaling can be harnessed for the study of GPCR function and therapeutics.

Ligands can differentially and temporally modulate GPCR interaction with 14-3-3 isoforms.

GPCR signaling and function depend on their associated proteins and subcellular locations. Besides G-proteins and ß-arrestins, 14-3-3 proteins participate in GPCR trafficking and signaling, and they connect a large number of diverse proteins to form signaling networks. Multiple 14-3-3 isoforms exist, and a GPCR can differentially interact with different 14-3-3 isoforms in response to agonist treatment. We found that some agonist-induced GPCR/14-3-3 signal intensities can rapidly decrease. We confirmed that this phenomenon of rapidly decreasing agonist-induced GPCR/14-3-3 signal intensity could also be paralleled with GPCR/ß-arrestin-2 signals, indicating diminished levels of GPCR/signal adaptor complexes during endocytosis. The temporal signals could implicate either GPCR/14-3-3 complex dissociation or the complex undergoing a degradation process. Furthermore, we found that certain GPCR ligands can regulate GPCR/14-3-3 signals temporally, suggesting a new approach for GPCR drug development by modulating GPCR/14-3-3 signals temporally.

14-3-3 signal adaptor and scaffold proteins mediate GPCR trafficking.

Receptor trafficking is pivotal for the temporal and spatial control of GPCR signaling and is regulated by multiple cellular proteins. We provide evidence that GPCRs interact with 14-3-3 signal adaptor/scaffold proteins and that this interaction regulates receptor trafficking in two ways. We found GPCR/14-3-3 interaction signals can be agonist-induced or agonist-inhibited. Some GPCRs associate with 14-3-3 proteins at the cell membrane and agonist treatments result in disrupted GPCR/14-3-3 interaction signals. The diminished GPCR/14-3-3 interaction signals are temporally correlated with increased GPCR/ß-arrestin interaction signals in response to agonist treatment. Other GPCRs showed agonist-induced GPCR/14-3-3 interaction signal increases that occur later than agonist-induced GPCR/ß-arrestin interaction signals, indicating that GPCR/14-3-3 interaction occurred after receptor endocytosis. These two types of GPCR/14-3-3 interaction patterns correlate with different receptor trafficking patterns. In addition, the bioinformatic analysis predicts that approximately 90% of GPCRs contain at least one putative 14-3-3 binding motif, suggesting GPCR/14-3-3 association could be a general phenomenon. Based on these results and collective evidence, we propose a working model whereby 14-3-3 serves as a sorting factor to regulate receptor trafficking.

G-protein-coupled receptors mediate 14-3-3 signal transduction.

G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-interacting proteins likely participate in regulating GPCR signaling by eliciting specific signal transduction cascades, inducing cross-talk with other pathways, and fine tuning the signal. However, except for G-proteins and ß-arrestins, other GPCR-interacting proteins are poorly characterized. 14-3-3 proteins are signal adaptors, and their participation in GPCR signaling is not well understood or recognized. Here we demonstrate that GPCR-mediated 14-3-3 signaling is ligand-regulated and is likely to be a more general phenomenon than suggested by the previous reports of 14-3-3 involvement with a few GPCRs. For the first time, we can pharmacologically characterize GPCR/14-3-3 signaling. We have shown that GPCR-mediated 14-3-3 signaling is phosphorylation-dependent, and that the GPCR/14-3-3 interaction likely occurs later than receptor desensitization and internalization. GPCR-mediated 14-3-3 signaling can be ß-arrestin-independent, and individual agonists can have different potencies on 14-3-3 and ß-arrestin signaling. GPCRs can also mediate the interaction between 14-3-3 and Raf-1. Our work opens up a new broad realm of previously unappreciated GPCR signal transduction. Linking GPCRs to 14-3-3 signal transduction creates the potential for the development of new research directions and provides a new signaling pathway for drug discovery.

ERK and ß-arrestin interaction: a converging point of signaling pathways for multiple types of cell surface receptors.

ß-Arrestin, a signal adaptor protein, mediates intracellular signal transductions through protein-protein interactions by bringing two or more proteins in proximity. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), a protein kinase in the family of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), is involved in various receptor signal pathways. Interaction of ERK with ß-arrestin or formation of ERK/ß-arrestin signal complex occurs in response to activation of a variety of cell surface receptors. The ERK/ß-arrestin signal complex may be a common transducer to converge a variety of extracellular stimuli to similar downstream intracellular signaling pathways. By using a cell-based protein-protein interaction LinkLight assay technology, we demonstrate a direct interaction between ERK and ß-arrestin in response to extracellular stimuli, which can be sensitively and quantitatively monitored. Activations of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), and cytokine receptors promote formation of the ERK/ß-arrestin signal complex. Our data indicate that the ERK/ß-arrestin signal complex is a common transducer that participates in a variety of receptor signaling pathways. Furthermore, we demonstrate that receptor antagonists or kinase inhibitors can block the agonist-induced ERK and ß-arrestin interaction. Thus, the ERK/ß-arrestin interaction assay is useful for screening of new receptor modulators.

Minireview: Targeting GPCR Activated ERK Pathways for Drug Discovery.

It has become clear in recent years that multiple signal transduction pathways are employed upon GPCR activation. One of the major cellular effectors activated by GPCRs is extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Both G-protein and ß-arrestin mediated signaling pathways can lead to ERK activation. However, depending on activation pathway, the subcellular destination of activated ERK1/2 may be different. G-protein -dependent ERK activation results in the translocation of active ERK to the nucleus, whereas ERK activated via an arrestin-dependent mechanism remains largely in the cytoplasm. The subcellular location of activated ERK1/2 determines the downstream signaling cascade. Many substrates of ERK1/2 are found in the nucleus: nuclear transcription factors that participate in gene transcription, cell proliferation and differentiation. ERK1/2 substrates are also found in cytosol and other cellular organelles: they may play roles in translation, mitosis, apoptosis and cross-talk with other signaling pathways. Therefore, determining specific subcellular locations of activated ERK1/2 mediated by GPCR ligands would be important in correlating signaling pathways with cellular physiological functions. While GPCR-stimulated selective ERK pathway activation has been studied in several receptor systems, exploitation of these different signaling cascades for therapeutics has not yet been seriously pursued. Many old drug candidates were identified from screens based on G-protein signaling assays, and their activity on ß-arrestin signaling pathways being mostly unknown, especially regarding their subcellular ERK pathways. With today's knowledge of complicated GPCR signaling pathways, drug discovery can no longer rely on single-pathway approaches. Since ERK activation is an important signaling pathway and associated with many physiological functions, targeting the ERK pathway, especially specific subcellular activation pathways should provide new avenues for GPCR drug discovery.

A cell-based protein-protein interaction method using a permuted luciferase reporter.

We have developed a novel cell-based protein-protein interaction assay method. The method relies on conversion of an inactive permuted luciferase containing a Tobacco Etch Virus protease (TEV) cleavage sequence fused onto protein (A) to an active luciferase upon interaction and cleavage by another protein (B) fused with the TEV protease. We demonstrate assay applicability for ligand-induced protein-protein interactions including G-protein coupled receptors, receptor tyrosine kinases and nuclear hormone receptors.