title: The conformation of neurotensin bound to its G protein-coupled receptor.
abstract: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate the perception of smell, light, taste, and pain. They are involved in signal recognition and cell communication and are some of the most important targets for drug development. Because currently no direct structural information on high-affinity ligands bound to GPCRs is available, rational drug design is limited to computational prediction combined with mutagenesis experiments. Here, we present the conformation of a high-affinity peptide agonist (neurotensin, NT) bound to its GPCR NTS-1, determined by direct structural methods. Functional receptors were expressed in Escherichia coli, purified in milligram amounts by using optimized procedures, and subsequently reconstituted into lipid vesicles. Solid-state NMR experiments were tailored to allow for the unequivocal detection of microgram quantities of 13C,15N-labeled NT(8-13) in complex with functional NTS-1. The NMR data are consistent with a disordered state of the ligand in the absence of receptor. Upon receptor binding, the peptide undergoes a linear rearrangement, adopting a beta-strand conformation. Our results provide a viable structural template for further pharmacological investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of NMR-Based Structural Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Sorin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luca
authors.forename: Jim F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Awinder K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sohal
authors.forename: Dmitri V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Filippov
authors.forename: Jacques H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: van Boom
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grisshammer
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baldus
mesh_terms: D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009496:Neurotensin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D009496:Neurotensin; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins