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Engineering nanomolar peptide ligands that differentially modulate EphA2 receptor signaling.

ABSTRACT: The EPH receptor A2 (EphA2) tyrosine kinase plays an important role in a plethora of biological and disease processes, ranging from angiogenesis and cancer to inflammation and parasitic infections. EphA2 is therefore considered an important drug target. Two short peptides previously identified by phage display, named YSA and SWL, are widely used as EphA2-targeting agents owing to their high specificity for this receptor. However, these peptides have only modest (micromolar) potency. Lack of structural information on the binding interactions of YSA and SWL with the extracellular EphA2 ligand-binding domain (LBD) has for many years precluded structure-guided improvements. We now report the high-resolution (1.53-2.20 Å) crystal structures of the YSA peptide and several of its improved derivatives in complex with the EphA2 LBD, disclosing that YSA targets the ephrin-binding pocket of EphA2 and mimics binding features of the ephrin-A ligands. The structural information obtained enabled iterative peptide modifications conferring low nanomolar potency. Furthermore, contacts observed in the crystal structures shed light on how C-terminal features can convert YSA derivatives from antagonists to agonists that likely bivalently interact with two EphA2 molecules to promote receptor oligomerization, autophosphorylation, and downstream signaling. Consistent with this model, quantitative FRET measurements in live cells revealed that the peptide agonists promote the formation of EphA2 oligomeric assemblies. Our findings now enable rational strategies to differentially modify EphA2 signaling toward desired outcomes by using appropriately engineered peptides. Such peptides could be used as research tools to interrogate EphA2 function and to develop pharmacological leads.

SUBMITTER: Gomez-Soler M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6552433 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Engineering nanomolar peptide ligands that differentially modulate EphA2 receptor signaling.

Gomez-Soler Maricel M Petersen Gehring Marina M Lechtenberg Bernhard C BC Zapata-Mercado Elmer E Hristova Kalina K Pasquale Elena B EB

The Journal of biological chemistry 20190423 22

The EPH receptor A2 (EphA2) tyrosine kinase plays an important role in a plethora of biological and disease processes, ranging from angiogenesis and cancer to inflammation and parasitic infections. EphA2 is therefore considered an important drug target. Two short peptides previously identified by phage display, named YSA and SWL, are widely used as EphA2-targeting agents owing to their high specificity for this receptor. However, these peptides have only modest (micromolar) potency. Lack of stru ...[more]

PMID: 31015204

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Project description:MAS is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) implicated in multiple physiological processes. Several physiological peptide ligands such as angiotensin-(1-7), angiotensin fragments and neuropeptide FF (NPFF) are reported to act on MAS. Studies of conventional G protein signaling and receptor desensitization upon stimulation of MAS with the peptide ligands are limited so far. Therefore, we systematically analyzed G protein signals activated by the peptide ligands. MAS-selective non-peptide ligands that were previously shown to activate G proteins were used as controls for comparison on a common cell based assay platform. Activation of MAS by the non-peptide agonist (1) increased intracellular calcium and D-myo-inositol-1-phosphate (IP1) levels which are indicative of the activation of classical G?q-phospholipase C signaling pathways, (2) decreased G?i mediated cAMP levels and (3) stimulated G?12-dependent expression of luciferase reporter. In all these assays, MAS exhibited strong constitutive activity that was inhibited by the non-peptide inverse agonist. Further, in the calcium response assay, MAS was resistant to stimulation by a second dose of the non-peptide agonist after the first activation has waned suggesting functional desensitization. In contrast, activation of MAS by the peptide ligand NPFF initiated a rapid rise in intracellular calcium with very weak IP1 accumulation which is unlike classical G?q-phospholipase C signaling pathway. NPFF only weakly stimulated MAS-mediated activation of G?12 and G?i signaling pathways. Furthermore, unlike non-peptide agonist-activated MAS, NPFF-activated MAS could be readily re-stimulated the second time by the agonists. Functional assays with key ligand binding MAS mutants suggest that NPFF and non-peptide ligands bind to overlapping regions. Angiotensin-(1-7) and other angiotensin fragments weakly potentiated an NPFF-like calcium response at non-physiological concentrations (?100 µM). Overall, our data suggest that peptide ligands induce atypical signaling and functional desensitization of MAS.

Dataset Information

Engineering nanomolar peptide ligands that differentially modulate EphA2 receptor signaling.

Publications

Engineering nanomolar peptide ligands that differentially modulate EphA2 receptor signaling.

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