Rational design of a heterotrimeric G protein α subunit with artificial inhibitor sensitivity

Davide Malfacini, Julian Patt, Suvi Annala, Kasper Harpsøe, Funda Eryilmaz, Raphael Reher, Max Crüsemann, Wiebke Hanke, Hang Zhang, Daniel Tietze, David E Gloriam, Hans Bräuner-Osborne, Kristian Strømgaard, Gabriele M König, Asuka Inoue, Jesus Gomeza, Evi Kostenis

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Abstract

Transmembrane signals initiated by a range of extracellular stimuli converge on members of the Gq family of heterotrimeric G proteins, which relay these signals in target cells. Gq family G proteins comprise Gq, G11, G14, and G16, which upon activation mediate their cellular effects via inositol lipid-dependent and -independent signaling to control fundamental processes in mammalian physiology. To date, highly specific inhibition of Gq/11/14 signaling can be achieved only with FR900359 (FR) and YM-254890 (YM), two naturally occurring cyclic depsipeptides. To further development of FR or YM mimics for other Gα subunits, we here set out to rationally design Gα16 proteins with artificial FR/YM sensitivity by introducing an engineered depsipeptide binding site. Thereby we permit control of G16 function through ligands that are inactive on the wild type protein. Using CRISPR/Cas9-generated Gαq/Gα11-null cells and loss- and gain-of-function mutagenesis along with label-free whole-cell biosensing, we determined the molecular coordinates for FR/YM inhibition of Gq and transplanted these to FR/YM-insensitive G16. Intriguingly, despite having close structural similarity, FR and YM yielded biologically distinct activities: it was more difficult to perturb Gq inhibition by FR and easier to install FR inhibition onto G16 than perturb or install inhibition with YM. A unique hydrophobic network utilized by FR accounted for these unexpected discrepancies. Our results suggest that non-Gq/11/14 proteins should be amenable to inhibition by FR scaffold-based inhibitors, provided that these inhibitors mimic the interaction of FR with Gα proteins harboring engineered FR-binding sites.

Original languageEnglish
JournalThe Journal of Biological Chemistry
Volume294
Issue number15
Pages (from-to)5747-5758
ISSN0021-9258
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Apr 2019

Bibliographical note

Published under license by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

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