title: Ligand binding pocket of a novel Allatostatin receptor type C of stick insect, Carausius morosus.
abstract: Allatostatins (AST) are neuropeptides with variable function ranging from regulation of developmental processes to the feeding behavior in insects. They exert their effects by binding to cognate GPCRs, called Allatostatin receptors (AlstR), which emerge as promising targets for pesticide design. However, AlstRs are rarely studied. This study is the first reported structural study on AlstR-AST interaction. In this work, the first C type AlstR from the stick insect Carausius morosus (CamAlstR-C) was identified and its interaction with type C AST peptide was shown to be physically consistent with the experimental results. The proposed structure of CamAlstR-C revealed a conserved motif within the third extracellular loop, which, together with the N-terminus is essential for ligand binding. In this work, computational studies were combined with molecular and nano-scale approaches in order to introduce an unknown GPCR-ligand system. Consequently, the data obtained provided a reliable target region for future agonist/inverse agonist studies on AlstRs.
authors.affiliation: Boğaziçi University Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Istanbul, 34342, Turkey.
authors.forename: Burcin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Duan Sahbaz
authors.affiliation: Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Istanbul, 34956, Turkey.
authors.forename: Osman Ugur
authors.initials: OU
authors.lastname: Sezerman
authors.affiliation: Boğaziçi University Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Istanbul, 34342, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hamdi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Torun
authors.affiliation: Boğaziçi University Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Istanbul, 34342, Turkey.
authors.forename: Necla
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Birgül Iyison
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D007313:Insecta / Q000378:metabolism*; D008024:Ligands; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D011485:Protein Binding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D009479:Neuropeptides; D010455:Peptides; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C076523:allatostatin