scholarly journals Acylation-stimulating protein (ASP): structure–function determinants of cell surface binding and triacylglycerol synthetic activity

1999 ◽  
Vol 342 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian MURRAY ◽  
Jörg KÖHL ◽  
Katherine CIANFLONE

Acylation-stimulating protein (ASP or C3adesArg) is a potent lipogenic factor in human and murine adipocytes and fibroblasts. The arginated form of ASP, i.e. complement C3a (C3a), stimulates immunological responses in human granulocytes, mast cells, guinea pig platelets and guinea pig macrophages; however, ASP is inactive in stimulating these responses. Thus both ASP and C3a are bioactive across species but are not functionally interchangeable. Tertiary structure of both proteins by X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy predicts a tightly linked core region consisting of three α-helices linked via three disulphide bonds, with one of the α-helices extending out from the core and terminating in a flexible conformationally irregular carboxy-tail region. The present studies were undertaken in order to define the functionally active domains of ASP, distinctive from those of C3a, using chemical modifications, enzymic cleavage and synthetic peptide fragments. The results indicate that: (i) the N-terminal region (< 10 amino acids) plays little role in ASP receptor binding and triacylglycerol synthesis stimulation; (ii) the native C-terminal region had no activity, but modifications which increased hydrophobicity increased receptor binding, and led to some activation of triacylglycerol synthesis stimulation; (iii) an intact disulphide-linked core region is essential for triacylglycerol synthesis stimulation activity but not for receptor interaction. Finally, basic charges in the carboxy region (His) are essential for ASP triacylglycerol synthesis stimulation but not for receptor binding, whereas both functions are eliminated by the modification of Lys in the disulphide-linked core region. The present results suggest that there are two functional domains in ASP, one that is responsible for the initial binding to the cell surface receptor, and a second domain that activates and increases triacylglycerol synthesis stimulation. This contrasts markedly with the structure-function studies of C3a where both binding competency and function were dependent on the C-terminal Arg. Thus ASP demonstrates distinct bioactivity.

2003 ◽  
Vol 176 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
WH Fischer ◽  
M Park ◽  
C Donaldson ◽  
E Wiater ◽  
J Vaughan ◽  
...  

Activin is a secreted growth factor that signals by binding two related classes of single transmembrane receptors at the cell surface. The interaction of activin with its receptors is highly regulated by other cell surface receptors, antagonistic ligands, and high affinity extracellular binding proteins such as follistatin. Two activin A mutants, the deletion mutant des[85-109]-activin A and the point mutant K102E-activin A (K102E), were investigated with respect to their ability to bind cell surface receptors and the binding protein follistatin. The deletion mutant exhibits low affinity for both receptors and follistatin whereas the point mutant fails to bind cell surface receptors but binds follistatin-288 with high affinity. K102E is able to compete with wild type activin to bind to follistatin and can thus increase the concentration of activin available for receptor binding and signaling. These findings underline the importance of the C-terminal region of activin for binding interactions and show that different residues in this region are involved in cell surface receptor and follistatin interactions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Huang ◽  
Ya-Xiong Tao

The melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) is a critical regulator of energy homeostasis and has emerged as a premier target for obesity treatment. Numerous mutations in transmembrane domain 6 (TM6) of MC4R resulting in functional alterations have been identified in obese patients. Several mutagenesis studies also provided some data suggesting the importance of this domain in receptor function. To gain a better understanding of the structure–function relationship of the receptor, we performed alanine-scanning mutagenesis in TM6 to determine the functions of side chains. Of the 31 residues, two were important for cell surface expression, five were indispensable for α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) and β-MSH binding, and six were important for signaling in the Gs–cAMP–PKA pathway. H264A, targeted normally to the plasma membrane, was undetectable by competitive binding assay and severely defective in basal and stimulated cAMP production and ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Nine mutants had decreased basal cAMP signaling. Seven mutants were constitutively active in cAMP signaling and their basal activities could be inhibited by two MC4R inverse agonists, Ipsen 5i and ML00253764. Five mutants were also constitutively active in the MAPK pathway with enhanced basal ERK1/2 phosphorylation. In summary, our study provided comprehensive data on the structure–function relationship of the TM6 of MC4R. We identified residues that are important for cell surface expression, ligand binding, cAMP generation, and residues for maintaining the WT receptor in active conformation. We also reported constitutive activation of the MAPK pathway and biased signaling. These data will be useful for rationally designing MC4R agonists and antagonists for treatment of eating disorders.


Author(s):  
Linh Nguyen ◽  
Kelli McCord ◽  
Duong Bui ◽  
Kim Bouwman ◽  
Elena Kitova ◽  
...  

Abstract Emerging evidence suggests that host glycans influence infection by SARS-CoV-2. Here, we reveal that the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike (S)-protein on SARS-CoV-2 recognizes oligosaccharides containing sialic acid (SA), with preference for the oligosaccharide of monosialylated gangliosides. Gangliosides embedded within an artificial membrane also bind the RBD. The monomeric affinities (Kd = 100-200 μM) of gangliosides for the RBD are similar to heparan sulfate, another negatively charged glycan ligand of the RBD proposed as a viral co-receptor. RBD binding and infection of SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped lentivirus to ACE2-expressing cells is decreased upon depleting cell surface SA level using three approaches: sialyltransferase inhibition, genetic knock-out of SA biosynthesis, or neuraminidase treatment. These effects on RBD binding and pseudotyped viral entry are recapitulated with pharmacological or genetic disruption of glycolipid biosynthesis. Together, these results suggest that sialylated glycans, specifically glycolipids, facilitate viral entry of SARS-CoV-2.


1988 ◽  
Vol 254 (2) ◽  
pp. 613-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Paul ◽  
D J Volle ◽  
J Currie

Guinea pig vasoactive intestinal peptide (gpVIP) differs from other mammalian VIPs in four of its 28 amino acid residues. In the present study, the gpVIP displaced 125I-labelled pig VIP (pVIP) binding by rat lung membranes with 7.7-fold lower potency than pVIP. Degradation of gpVIP by rat lung membranes, assessed by radioimmunoassay and h.p.l.c., was 1.9-fold greater than that of pVIP. This difference in degradation of the two peptides was not large enough to account for the lower receptor-binding potency of gpVIP. The amino acid residues that distinguish pVIP from gpVIP are likely to contribute to the interaction of VIP with receptors and peptide hydrolases in lung membranes.


Immunobiology ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 166 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-117
Author(s):  
E. Kownatzki ◽  
Sibylle Uhrich ◽  
Birgit Weil

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