| 1. |
- Gutlerrez-de-Teran, Hugo, et al.
(author)
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The Role of a Sodium Ion Binding Site in the Allosteric Modulation of the A(2A) Adenosine G Protein-Coupled Receptor
- 2013
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In: Structure. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-2126 .- 1878-4186. ; 21:12, s. 2175-2185
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The function of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) can be modulated by a number of endogenous allosteric molecules. In this study, we used molecular dynamics, radioligand binding, and thermostability experiments to elucidate the role of the recently discovered sodium ion binding site in the allosteric modulation of the human A(2A) adenosine receptor, conserved among class A GPCRs. While the binding of antagonists and sodium ions to the receptor was noncompetitive in nature, the binding of agonists and sodium ions appears to require mutually exclusive conformational states of the receptor. Anniloride analogs can also bind to the sodium binding pocket, showing distinct patterns of agonist and antagonist modulation. These findings suggest that physiological concentrations of sodium ions affect functionally relevant conformational states of GPCRs and can help to design novel synthetic allosteric modulators or bitopic ligands exploiting the sodium ion binding pocket.
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| 2. |
- Liu, Wei, et al.
(author)
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Serial Femtosecond Crystallography of G Protein-Coupled Receptors
- 2013
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 342:6165, s. 1521-1524
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- X-ray crystallography of G protein-coupled receptors and other membrane proteins is hampered by difficulties associated with growing sufficiently large crystals that withstand radiation damage and yield high-resolution data at synchrotron sources. We used an x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) with individual 50-femtosecond-duration x-ray pulses to minimize radiation damage and obtained a high-resolution room-temperature structure of a human serotonin receptor using sub-10-micrometer microcrystals grown in a membrane mimetic matrix known as lipidic cubic phase. Compared with the structure solved by using traditional microcrystallography from cryo-cooled crystals of about two orders of magnitude larger volume, the room-temperature XFEL structure displays a distinct distribution of thermal motions and conformations of residues that likely more accurately represent the receptor structure and dynamics in a cellular environment.
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| 3. |
- Weierstall, Uwe, et al.
(author)
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Lipidic cubic phase injector facilitates membrane protein serial femtosecond crystallography
- 2014
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 5, s. 3309-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Lipidic cubic phase (LCP) crystallization has proven successful for high-resolution structure determination of challenging membrane proteins. Here we present a technique for extruding gel-like LCP with embedded membrane protein microcrystals, providing a continuously renewed source of material for serial femtosecond crystallography. Data collected from sub-10-mu m-sized crystals produced with less than 0.5 mg of purified protein yield structural insights regarding cyclopamine binding to the Smoothened receptor.
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