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Yin G, Lv G, Zhang J, Jiang H, Lai T, Yang Y, Ren Y, Wang J, Yi C, Chen H, Huang Y, Xiao C. Early-stage structure-based drug discovery for small GTPases by NMR spectroscopy. Pharmacol Ther 2022; 236:108110. [PMID: 35007659 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2022.108110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Revised: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Small GTPase or Ras superfamily, including Ras, Rho, Rab, Ran and Arf, are fundamental in regulating a wide range of cellular processes such as growth, differentiation, migration and apoptosis. They share structural and functional similarities for binding guanine nucleotides and hydrolyzing GTP. Dysregulations of Ras proteins are involved in the pathophysiology of multiple human diseases, however there is still a stringent need for effective treatments targeting these proteins. For decades, small GTPases were recognized as 'undruggable' targets due to their complex regulatory mechanisms and lack of deep pockets for ligand binding. NMR has been critical in deciphering the structural and dynamic properties of the switch regions that are underpinning molecular switch functions of small GTPases, which pave the way for developing new effective inhibitors. The recent progress of drug or lead molecule development made for small GTPases profoundly delineated how modern NMR techniques reshape the field of drug discovery. In this review, we will summarize the progress of structural and dynamic studies of small GTPases, the NMR techniques developed for structure-based drug screening and their applications in early-stage drug discovery for small GTPases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guowei Yin
- The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China.
| | - Guohua Lv
- Division of Histology & Embryology, Medical College, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511486, Guangdong, China
| | - Jerry Zhang
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USA
| | - Hongmei Jiang
- The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Tianqi Lai
- Division of Histology & Embryology, Medical College, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511486, Guangdong, China
| | - Yushan Yang
- The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Yong Ren
- The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Jing Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, Shaanxi, China
| | - Chenju Yi
- The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Hao Chen
- Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, Biomedical Informatics & Genomics Center, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710049, PR China; Research Institute of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 311215, PR China
| | - Yun Huang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase 20815, MD, USA; Department of Physiology & Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York 10065, NY, USA.
| | - Chaoni Xiao
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, Shaanxi, China.
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Zhu M, Wang XQ. Regulation of mTORC1 by Small GTPases in Response to Nutrients. J Nutr 2020; 150:1004-1011. [PMID: 31965176 DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxz301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2019] [Revised: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a highly evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinase that regulates cell growth and metabolism in response to multiple environmental cues, such as nutrients, hormones, energy, and stress. Deregulation of mTORC1 can lead to diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cancer. A series of small GTPases, including Rag, Ras homolog enriched in brain (Rheb), adenosine diphosphate ribosylation factor 1 (Arf1), Ras-related protein Ral-A, Ras homolog (Rho), and Rab, are involved in regulating mTORC1 in response to nutrients, and mTORC1 is differentially regulated via these small GTPases according to specific conditions. Leucine and arginine sensing are considered to be well-confirmed amino acid-sensing signals, activating mTORC1 via a Rag GTPase-dependent mechanism as well as the Ragulator complex and vacuolar H+-adenosine triphosphatase (v-ATPase). Glutamine promotes mTORC1 activation via Arf1 independently of the Rag GTPase. In this review, we summarize current knowledge regarding the regulation of mTORC1 activity by small GTPases in response to nutrients, focusing on the function of small GTPases in mTORC1 activation and how small GTPases are regulated by nutrients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Zhu
- College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control/National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiu-Qi Wang
- College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control/National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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Qu L, Pan C, He SM, Lang B, Gao GD, Wang XL, Wang Y. The Ras Superfamily of Small GTPases in Non-neoplastic Cerebral Diseases. Front Mol Neurosci 2019; 12:121. [PMID: 31213978 PMCID: PMC6555388 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2019.00121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Accepted: 04/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The small GTPases from the Ras superfamily play crucial roles in basic cellular processes during practically the entire process of neurodevelopment, including neurogenesis, differentiation, gene expression, membrane and protein traffic, vesicular trafficking, and synaptic plasticity. Small GTPases are key signal transducing enzymes that link extracellular cues to the neuronal responses required for the construction of neuronal networks, as well as for synaptic function and plasticity. Different subfamilies of small GTPases have been linked to a number of non-neoplastic cerebral diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), intellectual disability, epilepsy, drug addiction, Huntington’s disease (HD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and a large number of idiopathic cerebral diseases. Here, we attempted to make a clearer illustration of the relationship between Ras superfamily GTPases and non-neoplastic cerebral diseases, as well as their roles in the neural system. In future studies, potential treatments for non-neoplastic cerebral diseases which are based on small GTPase related signaling pathways should be explored further. In this paper, we review all the available literature in support of this possibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Qu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Chao Pan
- Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
| | - Shi-Ming He
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.,Department of Neurosurgery, Xi'an International Medical Center, Xi'an, China
| | - Bing Lang
- The School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Guo-Dong Gao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Xue-Lian Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yuan Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
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Xu SS, Xu LG, Yuan C, Li SN, Chen T, Wang W, Li C, Cao L, Rao H. FKBP8 inhibits virus-induced RLR-VISA signaling. J Med Virol 2019; 91:482-492. [PMID: 30267576 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.25327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2018] [Accepted: 09/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The mitochondrial antiviral signal protein mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein, also known as virus-induced signaling adaptor (VISA), plays a key role in regulating host innate immune signaling pathways. This study identifies FK506 binding protein 8 (FKBP8) as a candidate interacting protein of VISA through the yeast two-hybrid technique. The interaction of FKBP8 with VISA, retinoic acid inducible protein 1 (RIG-I), and IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) was confirmed during viral infection in mammalian cells by coimmunoprecipitation. Overexpression of FKBP8 using a eukaryotic expression plasmid significantly attenuated Sendai virus-induced activation of the promoter interferons β (IFN-β), and transcription factors nuclear factor κ-light chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and IFN-stimulated response element (ISRE). Overexpression of FKBP8 also decreased dimer-IRF3 activity, but enhanced virus replication. Conversely, knockdown of FKBP8 expression by RNA interference showed opposite effects. Further studies indicated that FKBP8 acts as a negative interacting partner to regulate RLR-VISA signaling by acting on VISA and TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK1). Additionally, FKBP8 played a negative role on virus-induced signaling by inhibiting the formation of TBK1-IRF3 and VISA-TRAF3 complexes. Notably, FKBP8 also promoted the degradation of TBK1, RIG-I, and TRAF3 resulting from FKBP8 reinforced Sendai virus-induced endogenous polyubiquitination of RIG-I, TBK1, and TNF receptor-associated factor 3 (TRAF3). Therefore, a novel function of FKBP8 in innate immunity antiviral signaling regulation was revealed in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shan-Shan Xu
- Key Laboratory of Functional Small Organic Molecules, Ministry of Education and College of Life Science, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Liang-Guo Xu
- Key Laboratory of Functional Small Organic Molecules, Ministry of Education and College of Life Science, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Cailei Yuan
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Sensors, School of Physics, Communication and Electronics, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Sheng-Na Li
- Key Laboratory of Functional Small Organic Molecules, Ministry of Education and College of Life Science, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Tian Chen
- Key Laboratory of Functional Small Organic Molecules, Ministry of Education and College of Life Science, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Weiying Wang
- Key Laboratory of Functional Small Organic Molecules, Ministry of Education and College of Life Science, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Changsheng Li
- Key Laboratory of Functional Small Organic Molecules, Ministry of Education and College of Life Science, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Lingzhen Cao
- Key Laboratory of Functional Small Organic Molecules, Ministry of Education and College of Life Science, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Hua Rao
- Key Laboratory of Functional Small Organic Molecules, Ministry of Education and College of Life Science, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
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Allostery and dynamics in small G proteins. Biochem Soc Trans 2018; 46:1333-1343. [PMID: 30301845 DOI: 10.1042/bst20170569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Revised: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 09/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The Ras family of small guanine nucleotide-binding proteins behave as molecular switches: they are switched off and inactive when bound to GDP but can be activated by GTP binding in response to signal transduction pathways. Early structural analysis showed that two regions of the protein, which change conformation depending on the nucleotide present, mediate this switch. A large number of X-ray, NMR and simulation studies have shown that this is an over-simplification. The switch regions themselves are highly dynamic and can exist in distinct sub-states in the GTP-bound form that have different affinities for other proteins. Furthermore, regions outside the switches have been found to be sensitive to the nucleotide state of the protein, indicating that allosteric change is more widespread than previously thought. Taken together, the accrued knowledge about small G protein structures, allostery and dynamics will be essential for the design and testing of the next generation of inhibitors, both orthosteric and allosteric, as well as for understanding their mode of action.
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