scholarly journals TRPA1 modulation by piperidine carboxamides suggests an evolutionarily conserved binding site and gating mechanism

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (51) ◽  
pp. 26008-26019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Chernov-Rogan ◽  
Eleonora Gianti ◽  
Chang Liu ◽  
Elisia Villemure ◽  
Andrew P. Cridland ◽  
...  

The transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channel functions as an irritant sensor and is a therapeutic target for treating pain, itch, and respiratory diseases. As a ligand-gated channel, TRPA1 can be activated by electrophilic compounds such as allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) through covalent modification or activated by noncovalent agonists through ligand binding. However, how covalent modification leads to channel opening and, importantly, how noncovalent binding activates TRPA1 are not well-understood. Here we report a class of piperidine carboxamides (PIPCs) as potent, noncovalent agonists of human TRPA1. Based on their species-specific effects on human and rat channels, we identified residues critical for channel activation; we then generated binding modes for TRPA1–PIPC interactions using structural modeling, molecular docking, and mutational analysis. We show that PIPCs bind to a hydrophobic site located at the interface of the pore helix 1 (PH1) and S5 and S6 transmembrane segments. Interestingly, this binding site overlaps with that of known allosteric modulators, such as A-967079 and propofol. Similar binding sites, involving π-helix rearrangements on S6, have been recently reported for other TRP channels, suggesting an evolutionarily conserved mechanism. Finally, we show that for PIPC analogs, predictions from computational modeling are consistent with experimental structure–activity studies, thereby suggesting strategies for rational drug design.

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Wang ◽  
Yifeng Guo ◽  
Guanluan Li ◽  
Chunhong Liu ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
...  

NompC is a mechanosensitive ion channel responsible for the sensation of touch and balance in Drosophila melanogaster. Based on a resolved cryo-EM structure, we performed all-atom molecular dynamics simulations and electrophysiological experiments to study the atomistic details of NompC gating. Our results showed that NompC could be opened by compression of the intracellular ankyrin repeat domain but not by a stretch, and a number of hydrogen bonds along the force convey pathway are important for the mechanosensitivity. Under intracellular compression, the bundled ankyrin repeat region acts like a spring with a spring constant of ~13 pN nm−1 by transferring forces at a rate of ~1.8 nm ps−1. The linker helix region acts as a bridge between the ankyrin repeats and the transient receptor potential (TRP) domain, which passes on the pushing force to the TRP domain to undergo a clockwise rotation, resulting in the opening of the channel. This could be the universal gating mechanism of similar tethered mechanosensitive TRP channels, which enable cells to feel compression and shrinkage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirill D. Nadezhdin ◽  
Arthur Neuberger ◽  
Yury A. Nikolaev ◽  
Lyle A. Murphy ◽  
Elena O. Gracheva ◽  
...  

AbstractTransient receptor potential (TRP) channels are polymodal molecular sensors involved in numerous physiological processes and implicated in a variety of human diseases. Several structures of the founding member of the TRP channel family, TRPV1, are available, all of which were determined for the protein missing the N- and C-termini and the extracellular S5-P-loop. Here, we present structures of the full-length thirteen-lined ground squirrel TRPV1 solved by cryo-EM. Our structures resolve the extracellular cap domain formed by the S5-P-loops and the C-terminus that wraps around the three-stranded β-sheet connecting elements of the TRPV1 intracellular skirt. The cap domain forms a dome above the pore’s extracellular entrance, with four portals leading to the ion conductance pathway. Deletion of the cap increases the TRPV1 average conductance, reduces the open probability and affects ion selectivity. Our data show that both the termini and the cap domain are critical determinants of TRPV1 function.


Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6421) ◽  
pp. eaav4809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Longfei Wang ◽  
Tian-Min Fu ◽  
Yiming Zhou ◽  
Shiyu Xia ◽  
Anna Greka ◽  
...  

Transient receptor potential (TRP) melastatin 2 (TRPM2) is a cation channel associated with numerous diseases. It has a C-terminal NUDT9 homology (NUDT9H) domain responsible for binding adenosine diphosphate (ADP)–ribose (ADPR), and both ADPR and calcium (Ca2+) are required for TRPM2 activation. Here we report cryo–electron microscopy structures of human TRPM2 alone, with ADPR, and with ADPR and Ca2+. NUDT9H forms both intra- and intersubunit interactions with the N-terminal TRPM homology region (MHR1/2/3) in the apo state but undergoes conformational changes upon ADPR binding, resulting in rotation of MHR1/2 and disruption of the intersubunit interaction. The binding of Ca2+ further engages transmembrane helices and the conserved TRP helix to cause conformational changes at the MHR arm and the lower gating pore to potentiate channel opening. These findings explain the molecular mechanism of concerted TRPM2 gating by ADPR and Ca2+ and provide insights into the gating mechanism of other TRP channels.


Author(s):  
Ben Katz ◽  
William L. Pak ◽  
Baruch Minke

The Drosophila Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channel is the founding member of a large and diverse family of channel proteins. These channels are evolutionarily conserved from yeast to mammals and are found in many organisms and tissues. The TRP family is classified into seven subfamilies, while the most closely related to the Drosophila TRP are members of the TRPC (Canonical) subfamily. This review focuses on a comparison between properties of Drosophila TRP, discovered in the native photoreceptor cells, and that of mammalian TRPC channels. These properties include: (i) organization of TRP channels in multimolecular signaling complexes via PDZ-containing scaffold proteins, (ii) mutations causing constitutive activity of TRP channels and cell degeneration, (iii) regulation of TRP channels by phosphorylation, and (iv) hypoxia/anoxia-activation of TRP channels. Hence, we suggest that knowledge gained from studies of Drosophila may guide studies in mammals that attempt elucidating diverse types of diseases caused by TRPC channel malfunction.


2011 ◽  
Vol 110 (3) ◽  
pp. 789-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaori Ono ◽  
Masako Tsukamoto-Yasui ◽  
Yoshiko Hara-Kimura ◽  
Naohiko Inoue ◽  
Yoshihito Nogusa ◽  
...  

The sympathetic thermoregulatory system controls the magnitude of adaptive thermogenesis in correspondence with the environmental temperature or the state of energy intake and plays a key role in determining the resultant energy storage. However, the nature of the trigger initiating this reflex arc remains to be determined. Here, using capsiate, a digestion-vulnerable capsaicin analog, we examined the involvement of specific activation of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels within the gastrointestinal tract in the thermogenic sympathetic system by measuring the efferent activity of the postganglionic sympathetic nerve innervating brown adipose tissue (BAT) in anesthetized rats. Intragastric administration of capsiate resulted in a time- and dose-dependent increase in integrated BAT sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) over 180 min, which was characterized by an emergence of sporadic high-activity phases composed of low-frequency bursts. This increase in BAT SNA was abolished by blockade of TRP channels as well as of sympathetic ganglionic transmission and was inhibited by ablation of the gastrointestinal vagus nerve. The activation of SNA was delimited to BAT and did not occur in the heart or pancreas. These results point to a neural pathway enabling the selective activation of the central network regulating the BAT SNA in response to a specific stimulation of gastrointestinal TRP channels and offer important implications for understanding the dietary-dependent regulation of energy metabolism and control of obesity.


2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Azhar Sherkheli ◽  
Angela K. Vogt-Eisele ◽  
Daniel Bura ◽  
Leopoldo R. Beltrán Márques ◽  
Günter Gisselmann ◽  
...  

PURPOSE: Transient receptor potential melastatin-8 (TRPM8) is an ion channel expressed extensively in sensory nerves, human prostate and overexpressed in a variety of cancers including prostate, breast, lung, colon and skin melanomas. It is activated by innoxious cooling and chemical stimuli. TRPM8 activation by cooling or chemical agonists is reported to induce profound analgesia in neuropathic pain conditions. Known TRPM8 agonists like menthol and icilin cross-activate other thermo-TRP channels like TRPV3 and TRPA1 and mutually inhibit TRPM8. This limits the usefulness of menthol and icilin as TRPM8 ligands. Consequently, the identification of selective and potent ligands for TRPM8 is of high relevance both in basic research and for therapeutic applications. In the present investigation, a group of menthol derivates was characterized. These ligands are selective and potent agonists of TRPM8. Interestingly they do not activate other thermo-TRPs like TRPA1, TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPV3 and TRPV4. These ion channels are also nociceptors and target of many inflammatory mediators. METHODS: Investigations were performed in a recombinant system: Xenopus oocytes microinjected with cRNA of gene of interest were superfused with the test substances after initial responses of known standard agonists. Evoked currents were measured by two-electrode voltage clamp technique. RESULTS: The newly characterized ligands possess an up to six-fold higher potency (EC50 in low µM) and an up to two-fold increase in efficacy compared to the parent compound menthol. In addition, it is found that chemical derivatives of menthol like CPS-368, CPS-369, CPS-125, WS-5 and WS-12 are the most selective ligands for TRPM8. The enhanced activity and selectivity seems to be conferred by hexacyclic ring structure present in all ligands as substances like WS-23 which lack this functional group activate TRPM8 with much lower potency (EC50 in mM) and those with pentacyclcic ring structure (furanone compounds) are totally inactive. CONCLUSION: The new substances activate TRPM8 with a higher potency, efficacy and specificity than menthol and will thus be of importance for the development of pharmacological agents suitable for treatment and diagnosis of certain cancers and as analgesics. STATEMENT OF NOVELTY: The new compounds have an unmatched specificity for TRPM8 ion channels with additional display of high potency and efficacy. Thus these substances are better pharmacological tools for TRPM8 characterization then known compounds and it is suggested that these menthol-derivates may serve as model substances for the development of TRPM8 ligands.


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