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Zhang M, Chen T, Lu X, Lan X, Chen Z, Lu S. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs): advances in structures, mechanisms, and drug discovery. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2024; 9:88. [PMID: 38594257 PMCID: PMC11004190 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-024-01803-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest family of human membrane proteins and an important class of drug targets, play a role in maintaining numerous physiological processes. Agonist or antagonist, orthosteric effects or allosteric effects, and biased signaling or balanced signaling, characterize the complexity of GPCR dynamic features. In this study, we first review the structural advancements, activation mechanisms, and functional diversity of GPCRs. We then focus on GPCR drug discovery by revealing the detailed drug-target interactions and the underlying mechanisms of orthosteric drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in the past five years. Particularly, an up-to-date analysis is performed on available GPCR structures complexed with synthetic small-molecule allosteric modulators to elucidate key receptor-ligand interactions and allosteric mechanisms. Finally, we highlight how the widespread GPCR-druggable allosteric sites can guide structure- or mechanism-based drug design and propose prospects of designing bitopic ligands for the future therapeutic potential of targeting this receptor family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Protection, Development and Utilization of Medicinal Resources in Liupanshan Area, Ministry of Education, Peptide & Protein Drug Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, China
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Ting Chen
- Department of Cardiology, Changzheng Hospital, Affiliated to Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200003, China
| | - Xun Lu
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Xiaobing Lan
- Key Laboratory of Protection, Development and Utilization of Medicinal Resources in Liupanshan Area, Ministry of Education, Peptide & Protein Drug Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, China
| | - Ziqiang Chen
- Department of Orthopedics, Changhai Hospital, Affiliated to Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
| | - Shaoyong Lu
- Key Laboratory of Protection, Development and Utilization of Medicinal Resources in Liupanshan Area, Ministry of Education, Peptide & Protein Drug Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, China.
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
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Huang W, Zhang Y, Fang X, Li Q, Liu H. Single-Nucleobase-Resolved Nanoruler Determines the Surface Energy Transfer Radius on the Living Cell Membrane. Anal Chem 2024; 96:5274-5281. [PMID: 38507515 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c00128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Investigations about surface energy transfer radius (r0) are limited to the aqueous solution system, and it is quite limited on experimental values of r0 between dyes and the corresponding gold particle (AuNP) sizes, especially for living cell systems. Hence, the selection of suitable AuNP-dye pairs is restricted when designing nanometal surface energy transfer (NSET) strategies in analytical sciences. Here, we developed a single-nucleobase-resolved NSET strategy to in situ measure the r0 value between a specific dye and different-sized AuNPs on the living cell membrane. Using the aptamer-dye complex (XQ-2d-nTA-FAM) and antiCD71 antibody-coupled AuNP conjugate (Au@antiCD71) as two working elements to bind two different sites on CD71 receptors on living cell membranes, we modified the nTA spacer between FAM and the terminal of aptamer to change the distance (r) from FAM to AuNP center and further adjusted the quenching efficiency (Φ) between them. Different r0 values of various AuNP-FAM pairs in living cells are determined by this in situ detection strategy. Based on this single-nucleobase-resolved NSET strategy, we established a simple and efficient universal method for measuring r0 in the living cell system, which greatly expanded the selection range of AuNP-dye pairs during the construction of the NSET model at the nanoscale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenwen Huang
- China Light Industry Key Laboratory of Meat Microbial Control and Utilization, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Bio-process, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, P. R. China
| | - Yu Zhang
- China Light Industry Key Laboratory of Meat Microbial Control and Utilization, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Bio-process, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, P. R. China
| | - Xingru Fang
- China Light Industry Key Laboratory of Meat Microbial Control and Utilization, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Bio-process, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, P. R. China
| | - Qi Li
- China Light Industry Key Laboratory of Meat Microbial Control and Utilization, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Bio-process, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, P. R. China
| | - Honglin Liu
- China Light Industry Key Laboratory of Meat Microbial Control and Utilization, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Bio-process, Ministry of Education, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, P. R. China
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Thermodynamic architecture and conformational plasticity of GPCRs. Nat Commun 2023; 14:128. [PMID: 36624096 PMCID: PMC9829892 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-35790-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are ubiquitous integral membrane proteins involved in diverse cellular signaling processes. Here, we carry out a large-scale ensemble thermodynamic study of 45 ligand-free GPCRs employing a structure-based statistical mechanical framework. We find that multiple partially structured states co-exist in the GPCR native ensemble, with the TM helices 1, 6 and 7 displaying varied folding status, and shaping the conformational landscape. Strongly coupled residues are anisotropically distributed, accounting for only 13% of the residues, illustrating that a large number of residues are inherently dynamic. Active-state GPCRs are characterized by reduced conformational heterogeneity with altered coupling-patterns distributed throughout the structural scaffold. In silico alanine-scanning mutagenesis reveals that extra- and intra-cellular faces of GPCRs are coupled thermodynamically, highlighting an exquisite structural specialization and the fluid nature of the intramolecular interaction network. The ensemble-based perturbation methodology presented here lays the foundation for understanding allosteric mechanisms and the effects of disease-causing mutations in GCPRs.
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Li L, Zhang J, Sun W, Gong W, Tian C, Shi P, Shi C. Allosteric conformational changes of G proteins upon its interaction with membrane and GPCR. CHINESE CHEM LETT 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cclet.2021.07.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Gleason PR, Kolbaba-Kartchner B, Henderson JN, Stahl EP, Simmons CR, Mills JH. Structural Origins of Altered Spectroscopic Properties upon Ligand Binding in Proteins Containing a Fluorescent Noncanonical Amino Acid. Biochemistry 2021; 60:2577-2585. [PMID: 34415744 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Fluorescent noncanonical amino acids (fNCAAs) could serve as starting points for the rational design of protein-based fluorescent sensors of biological activity. However, efforts toward this goal are likely hampered by a lack of atomic-level characterization of fNCAAs within proteins. Here, we describe the spectroscopic and structural characterization of five streptavidin mutants that contain the fNCAA l-(7-hydroxycoumarin-4-yl)ethylglycine (7-HCAA) at sites proximal to the binding site of its substrate, biotin. Many of the mutants exhibited altered fluorescence spectra in response to biotin binding, which included both increases and decreases in fluorescence intensity as well as red- or blue-shifted emission maxima. Structural data were also obtained for three of the five mutants. The crystal structures shed light on interactions between 7-HCAA and functional groups, contributed either by the protein or by the substrate, that may be responsible for the observed changes in the 7-HCAA spectra. These data could be used in future studies aimed at the rational design of fluorescent, protein-based sensors of small molecule binding or dissociation.
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