title: Solution structure and novel insights into the determinants of the receptor specificity of human relaxin-3.
abstract: Relaxin-3 is the most recently discovered member of the relaxin family of peptide hormones. In contrast to relaxin-1 and -2, whose main functions are associated with pregnancy, relaxin-3 is involved in neuropeptide signaling in the brain. Here, we report the solution structure of human relaxin-3, the first structure of a relaxin family member to be solved by NMR methods. Overall, relaxin-3 adopts an insulin-like fold, but the structure differs crucially from the crystal structure of human relaxin-2 near the B-chain terminus. In particular, the B-chain C terminus folds back, allowing Trp(B27) to interact with the hydrophobic core. This interaction partly blocks the conserved RXXXRXXI motif identified as a determinant for the interaction with the relaxin receptor LGR7 and may account for the lower affinity of relaxin-3 relative to relaxin for this receptor. This structural feature is likely important for the activation of its endogenous receptor, GPCR135.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: K Johan
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Rosengren
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ross A D
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bathgate
authors.forename: Geoffrey W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Tregear
authors.forename: Norelle L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Wade
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Craik
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002460:Cell Line; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D011247:Pregnancy; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012065:Relaxin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: C095067:RLN1 protein, human; C095068:RLN2 protein, human; C480238:RLN3 protein, human; C410092:RXFP3 protein, human; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D012065:Relaxin; D000242:Cyclic AMP