Allosteric regulation provides a way to control protein activity at the time scale of milliseconds to seconds inside the cell. An ability to engineer synthetic allosteric systems would be of practical utility for the development of novel biosensors, creation of synthetic cell signaling pathways, and design of small molecule pharmaceuticals with regulatory impact. To this end, we outline a general approach-termed rational engineering of allostery at conserved hotspots (REACH)-to introduce novel regulation into a protein of interest by exploiting latent allostery that has been hard-wired by evolution into its structure. REACH entails the use of statistical coupling analysis (SCA) to identify 'allosteric hotspots' on protein surfaces, the development and implementation of experimental assays to test hotspots for functionality, and a toolkit of allosteric modulators to impinge on endogenous cellular circuitry. REACH can be broadly applied to rewire cellular processes to respond to novel inputs.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1478-3975/aa64a4 | DOI Listing |
Br J Pharmacol
January 2025
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Background And Purpose: The antiepileptic drug ethosuximide (ETX) suppresses epileptiform activity in a mouse model of GNB1 syndrome, caused by mutations in Gβ protein, likely through the inhibition of G-protein gated K (GIRK) channels. Here, we investigated the mechanism of ETX inhibition (block) of different GIRKs.
Experimental Approach: We studied ETX inhibition of GIRK channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes with or without their physiological activator, the G protein subunit dimer Gβγ.
Photosynth Res
January 2025
School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, 406 Abelson Hall, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.
Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase (PEPC) has an anaplerotic role in central plant metabolism but also initiates the carbon concentrating mechanism during C photosynthesis. The C PEPC has different binding affinities (K) for PEP (K) and HCO (K), and allosteric regulation by glucose-6-phosphate (G6-P) compared to non-photosynthetic isoforms. These differences are linked to specific changes in amino acids within PEPC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransl Psychiatry
January 2025
Department of Basic Clinical Practice, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Schizophrenia (SZ) is a deleterious brain disorder characterised by its heterogeneity and complex symptomatology consisting of positive, negative and cognitive deficits. Current antipsychotic drugs ameliorate the positive symptomatology, but are inefficient in treating the negative symptomatology and cognitive deficits. The neurodevelopmental glutamate hypothesis of SZ has opened new avenues in the development of drugs targeting the glutamatergic system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Med Chem
January 2025
Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark.
GABA receptors (GABARs) are the major elements of inhibitory neurotransmission in the central nervous system (CNS). They are established targets for regulation by endogenous brain neuroactive steroids (NASs) such as pregnanolone. However, the complexity of de novo synthesis of NAS derivatives has hindered attempts to circumvent the principal limitations of using endogenous NASs, including selectivity and limited oral bioavailability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
IGF, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, INSERM, 34094, Montpellier, France.
The metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlus) are class C G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) that form obligate dimers activated by the major excitatory neurotransmitter L-glutamate. The architecture of mGlu receptor comprises an extracellular Venus-Fly Trap domain (VFT) connected to the transmembrane domain (7TM) through a Cysteine-Rich Domain (CRD). The binding of L-glutamate in the VFTs and subsequent conformational change results in the signal being transmitted to the 7TM inducing G protein binding and activation.
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