Conformational and electrostatic similarity between polyprotonated and Ca(2+)-bound mu-opioid peptides

Homology models of mu-opioid receptor with organic and inorganic cations at conserved aspartates in the second and third transmembrane domains

Metal ions affect ligand binding to G-protein-coupled receptors by as yet unknown mechanisms. In particular, Na(+) increases the affinity for antagonists but decreases it for agonists. We had modeled the mu-opioid receptor (muR) based on the low-resolution structure of rhodopsin by G. F. X. Schertler, C. Villa, and R. Henderson (1993, Nature 362, 770-772) and proposed that metal ions may be directly involved in the binding of ligands and receptor activation (B. S. Zhorov and V. S. Ananthanarayanan, 1998, J. Biomol. Struct. Dyn. 15, 631-637). Developing this concept further, we present here homology models of muR using as templates the structure of rhodopsin elaborated by I. D. Pogozheva, A. L. Lomize, and H. I. Mosberg (1997, Biophys. J. 70, 1963-1985) and J. M. Baldwin, G. F. X. Schertler, and V. M. Unger (1997, J. Mol. Biol., 272, 144-164). Using the Monte Carlo minimization (MCM) method, we docked the Na(+)-bound forms of muR ligands: naloxone, bremazocine, and carfentanyl. The resultant low-energy complexes showed that the two positive charges in the protonated metal-bound ligands interact with the two negative charges at Asp(3.32) and Asp(2.50) (for notations, see J. A. Ballesteros and H. Weinstein, 1995, Methods Neurosci. 25, 366-426). MCM computation on morphine docked inside the model of muR by I. D. Pogozheva, A. L. Lomize, and H. I. Mosberg (1998, Biophys. J. 75, 612-634) yielded two binding modes with the ligand's ammonium group salt-bridged either to Asp(3.32) (generally regarded as the ligand recognition site) or to Asp(2.50). The latter is the presumed site for Na(+) ion, which is known to modulate ligand binding. Assuming that in the low-dielectric transmembrane region of muR, organic and inorganic cations would compete for Asp(3.32) and Asp(2.50), we propose that ligand binding, as visualized in the above models, would first displace Na(+) from Asp(3.32). A subsequent progress of the ligand toward Asp(2.50) would result in either the retention of Na(+) at Asp(2.50) in the case of antagonists or the displacement of Na(+) from Asp(2.50) in the case of agonists. The displaced Na(+) would move toward the salt-bridged Asp(3.49)-Arg(3.50) and disengage the salt bridge. This, in turn, would result in conformational changes at the cytoplasmic face of the receptor that facilitate the interaction with the G-protein.

Signal transduction within G-protein coupled receptors via an ion tunnel: a hypothesis

Based on molecular modeling of the complexes between the mu-opioid receptor and its ligands, we present a hypothesis that accounts for several of the experimental data including the importance of conserved polar residues in rhodopsin-like G-protein-coupled receptors and the effect of Na+ on the binding of ligands to these receptors. We propose that agonists, but not antagonists, would displace Na+ from its initial binding site at the conserved D2.50 residue in the second transmembrane alpha-helical segment, H2. The displaced Na+ would pass through a "gate" of conserved hydrophobic residues and move along a tunnel-like interface (formed of H2, H3 and H7) enriched with several conserved hydrophilic residues including D3.49. Interaction of Na+ with D3.49 would result in the breaking of a salt-bridge between D3.49 and the conserved R3.50 residue thus exposing the latter for interaction with the G-protein.