scholarly journals Proton-gated coincidence detection is a common feature of GPCR signaling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas J Kapolka ◽  
Jacob B Rowe ◽  
Geoffrey J Taghon ◽  
William M Morgan ◽  
Corin R O'Shea ◽  
...  

The evolutionary expansion of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) has produced a rich diversity of transmembrane sensors for many physical and chemical signals. In humans alone, over 800 GPCRs detect stimuli such as light, hormones, and metabolites to guide cellular decision making primarily using intracellular G protein signaling networks. This diversity is further enriched by GPCRs that function as molecular logic gates capable of discerning multiple inputs to transduce cues encoded in complex, context-dependent signals. Here, we show that many GPCRs are switch-like Boolean-gated coincidence detectors that link proton (H+) binding to GPCR signaling. Using a panel of 28 receptors, covering 280 individual GPCR-Gα coupling combinations, we show that H+ gating both positively and negatively modulates and controls GPCR signaling. Notably, these observations extend to all modes of GPCR pharmacology including ligand efficacy, potency, and cooperativity. Additionally, we show that GPCR antagonism and constitutive activity are regulated by H+ gating and report the discovery of a new acid sensor, the adenosine A2a receptor (ADORA2A), which can be activated solely by acidic pH. Together, these findings establish a new paradigm for GPCR biology and pharmacology in acidified microenvironments such as endosomes, synapses, tumors, and ischemic vasculature.

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (28) ◽  
pp. e2100171118
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Kapolka ◽  
Jacob B. Rowe ◽  
Geoffrey J. Taghon ◽  
William M. Morgan ◽  
Corin R. O’Shea ◽  
...  

The evolutionary expansion of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) has produced a rich diversity of transmembrane sensors for many physical and chemical signals. In humans alone, over 800 GPCRs detect stimuli such as light, hormones, and metabolites to guide cellular decision-making primarily using intracellular G protein signaling networks. This diversity is further enriched by GPCRs that function as molecular sensors capable of discerning multiple inputs to transduce cues encoded in complex, context-dependent signals. Here, we show that many GPCRs are coincidence detectors that couple proton (H+) binding to GPCR signaling. Using a panel of 28 receptors covering 280 individual GPCR-Gα coupling combinations, we show that H+ gating both positively and negatively modulates GPCR signaling. Notably, these observations extend to all modes of GPCR pharmacology including ligand efficacy, potency, and cooperativity. Additionally, we show that GPCR antagonism and constitutive activity are regulated by H+ gating and report the discovery of an acid sensor, the adenosine A2a receptor, which can be activated solely by acidic pH. Together, these findings establish a paradigm for GPCR signaling, biology, and pharmacology applicable to acidified microenvironments such as endosomes, synapses, tumors, and ischemic vasculature.


2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 296-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Couve ◽  
Stephen J. Moss ◽  
Menelas N. Pangalos

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (617) ◽  
pp. eaaw5885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Sanchez-Soto ◽  
Ravi Kumar Verma ◽  
Blair K. A. Willette ◽  
Elizabeth C. Gonye ◽  
Annah M. Moore ◽  
...  

Signaling bias is the propensity for some agonists to preferentially stimulate G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling through one intracellular pathway versus another. We previously identified a G protein–biased agonist of the D2 dopamine receptor (D2R) that results in impaired β-arrestin recruitment. This signaling bias was predicted to arise from unique interactions of the ligand with a hydrophobic pocket at the interface of the second extracellular loop and fifth transmembrane segment of the D2R. Here, we showed that residue Phe189 within this pocket (position 5.38 using Ballesteros-Weinstein numbering) functions as a microswitch for regulating receptor interactions with β-arrestin. This residue is relatively conserved among class A GPCRs, and analogous mutations within other GPCRs similarly impaired β-arrestin recruitment while maintaining G protein signaling. To investigate the mechanism of this signaling bias, we used an active-state structure of the β2-adrenergic receptor (β2R) to build β2R-WT and β2R-Y1995.38A models in complex with the full β2R agonist BI-167107 for molecular dynamics simulations. These analyses identified conformational rearrangements in β2R-Y1995.38A that propagated from the extracellular ligand binding site to the intracellular surface, resulting in a modified orientation of the second intracellular loop in β2R-Y1995.38A, which is predicted to affect its interactions with β-arrestin. Our findings provide a structural basis for how ligand binding site alterations can allosterically affect GPCR-transducer interactions and result in biased signaling.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (617) ◽  
pp. eaax8620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent DiGiacomo ◽  
Marcin Maziarz ◽  
Alex Luebbers ◽  
Jillian M. Norris ◽  
Pandu Laksono ◽  
...  

The advent of deep-sequencing techniques has revealed that mutations in G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling pathways in cancer are more prominent than was previously appreciated. An emergent theme is that cancer-associated mutations tend to cause enhanced GPCR pathway activation to favor oncogenicity. Regulators of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins are critical modulators of GPCR signaling that dampen the activity of heterotrimeric G proteins through their GTPase-accelerating protein (GAP) activity, which is conferred by a conserved domain dubbed the “RGS-box.” Here, we developed an experimental pipeline to systematically assess the mutational landscape of RGS GAPs in cancer. A pan-cancer bioinformatics analysis of the 20 RGS domains with GAP activity revealed hundreds of low-frequency mutations spread throughout the conserved RGS domain structure with a slight enrichment at positions that interface with G proteins. We empirically tested multiple mutations representing all RGS GAP subfamilies and sampling both G protein interface and noninterface positions with a scalable, yeast-based assay. Last, a subset of mutants was validated using G protein activity biosensors in mammalian cells. Our findings reveal that a sizable fraction of RGS protein mutations leads to a loss of function through various mechanisms, including disruption of the G protein–binding interface, loss of protein stability, or allosteric effects on G protein coupling. Moreover, our results also validate a scalable pipeline for the rapid characterization of cancer-associated mutations in RGS proteins.


2012 ◽  
Vol 197 (6) ◽  
pp. 711-719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesare Orlandi ◽  
Ekaterina Posokhova ◽  
Ikuo Masuho ◽  
Thomas A. Ray ◽  
Nazarul Hasan ◽  
...  

The extent and temporal characteristics of G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling are shaped by the regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins, which promote G protein deactivation. With hundreds of GPCRs and dozens of RGS proteins, compartmentalization plays a key role in establishing signaling specificity. However, the molecular details and mechanisms of this process are poorly understood. In this paper, we report that the R7 group of RGS regulators is controlled by interaction with two previously uncharacterized orphan GPCRs: GPR158 and GPR179. We show that GPR158/179 recruited RGS complexes to the plasma membrane and augmented their ability to regulate GPCR signaling. The loss of GPR179 in a mouse model of night blindness prevented targeting of RGS to the postsynaptic compartment of bipolar neurons in the retina, illuminating the role of GPR179 in night vision. We propose that the interaction of RGS proteins with orphan GPCRs promotes signaling selectivity in G protein pathways.


2016 ◽  
Vol 214 (7) ◽  
pp. 797-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanna Lynn Bowman ◽  
Daniel John Shiwarski ◽  
Manojkumar A. Puthenveedu

G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) are recycled via a sequence-dependent pathway that is spatially and biochemically distinct from bulk recycling. Why there are two distinct recycling pathways from the endosome is a fundamental question in cell biology. In this study, we show that the separation of these two pathways is essential for normal spatial encoding of GPCR signaling. The prototypical β-2 adrenergic receptor (B2AR) activates Gα stimulatory protein (Gαs) on the endosome exclusively in sequence-dependent recycling tubules marked by actin/sorting nexin/retromer tubular (ASRT) microdomains. B2AR was detected in an active conformation in bulk recycling tubules, but was unable to activate Gαs. Protein kinase A phosphorylation of B2AR increases the fraction of receptors localized to ASRT domains and biases the downstream transcriptional effects of B2AR to genes controlled by endosomal signals. Our results identify the physiological relevance of separating GPCR recycling from bulk recycling and suggest a mechanism to tune downstream responses of GPCR signaling by manipulating the spatial origin of G protein signaling.


2013 ◽  
Vol 288 (38) ◽  
pp. 27327-27342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Croft ◽  
Claire Hill ◽  
Eilish McCann ◽  
Michael Bond ◽  
Manuel Esparza-Franco ◽  
...  

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) can interact with regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins. However, the effects of such interactions on signal transduction and their physiological relevance have been largely undetermined. Ligand-bound GPCRs initiate by promoting exchange of GDP for GTP on the Gα subunit of heterotrimeric G proteins. Signaling is terminated by hydrolysis of GTP to GDP through intrinsic GTPase activity of the Gα subunit, a reaction catalyzed by RGS proteins. Using yeast as a tool to study GPCR signaling in isolation, we define an interaction between the cognate GPCR (Mam2) and RGS (Rgs1), mapping the interaction domains. This reaction tethers Rgs1 at the plasma membrane and is essential for physiological signaling response. In vivo quantitative data inform the development of a kinetic model of the GTPase cycle, which extends previous attempts by including GPCR-RGS interactions. In vivo and in silico data confirm that GPCR-RGS interactions can impose an additional layer of regulation through mediating RGS subcellular localization to compartmentalize RGS activity within a cell, thus highlighting their importance as potential targets to modulate GPCR signaling pathways.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Zheng ◽  
Jeffrey S. Smith ◽  
Anmol Warman ◽  
Issac Choi ◽  
Jaimee N. Gundry ◽  
...  

AbstractG-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest family of cell surface receptors, signal through the proximal effectors G proteins and β-arrestins to influence nearly every biological process. Classically, the G protein and β-arrestin signaling pathways have largely been considered separable. Recently, direct interactions between Gα protein and β-arrestin have been described and suggest a distinct GPCR signaling pathway. Within these newly described Gα:β-arrestin complexes, Gαi/o, but not other Gα protein subtypes, have been appreciated to directly interact with β-arrestin, regardless of canonical GPCR Gα protein subtype coupling. However it is unclear how biased agonists differentially regulate this newly described Gαi:β-arrestin interaction, if at all. Here we report that endogenous ligands (chemokines) of the GPCR CXCR3, CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11, along with two small molecule biased CXCR3 agonists, differentially promote the formation of Gαi:β-arrestin complexes. The ability of CXCR3 agonists to form Gαi:β-arrestin complexes does not correlate well with either G protein signaling or β-arrestin recruitment. Conformational biosensors demonstrate that ligands that promoted Gαi:β-arrestin complex formation generated similar β-arrestin conformations. We find these Gαi:β-arrestin complexes can associate with CXCR3, but not with ERK. These findings further support that Gαi:β-arrestin complex formation is a distinct GPCR signaling pathway and enhance our understanding of biased agonism.


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