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Molecular mechanisms of fentanyl mediated ?-arrestin biased signaling.

ABSTRACT: The development of novel analgesics with improved safety profiles to combat the opioid epidemic represents a central question to G protein coupled receptor structural biology and pharmacology: What chemical features dictate G protein or ?-arrestin signaling? Here we use adaptively biased molecular dynamics simulations to determine how fentanyl, a potent ?-arrestin biased agonist, binds the ?-opioid receptor (?OR). The resulting fentanyl-bound pose provides rational insight into a wealth of historical structure-activity-relationship on its chemical scaffold. Following an in-silico derived hypothesis we found that fentanyl and the synthetic opioid peptide DAMGO require M153 to induce ?-arrestin coupling, while M153 was dispensable for G protein coupling. We propose and validate an activation mechanism where the n-aniline ring of fentanyl mediates ?OR ?-arrestin through a novel M153 "microswitch" by synthesizing fentanyl-based derivatives that exhibit complete, clinically desirable, G protein biased coupling. Together, these results provide molecular insight into fentanyl mediated ?-arrestin biased signaling and a rational framework for further optimization of fentanyl-based analgesics with improved safety profiles.

SUBMITTER: de Waal PW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7176292 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Molecular mechanisms of fentanyl mediated β-arrestin biased signaling.

de Waal Parker W PW Shi Jingjing J You Erli E Wang Xiaoxi X Melcher Karsten K Jiang Yi Y Xu H Eric HE Dickson Bradley M BM

PLoS computational biology 20200410 4

The development of novel analgesics with improved safety profiles to combat the opioid epidemic represents a central question to G protein coupled receptor structural biology and pharmacology: What chemical features dictate G protein or β-arrestin signaling? Here we use adaptively biased molecular dynamics simulations to determine how fentanyl, a potent β-arrestin biased agonist, binds the μ-opioid receptor (μOR). The resulting fentanyl-bound pose provides rational insight into a wealth of histo ...[more]

PMID: 32275713

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Project description:Reperfusion as a therapeutic intervention for acute myocardial infarction-induced cardiac injury itself induces further cardiomyocyte death. ?-arrestin (?arr)-biased ?-adrenergic receptor (?AR) activation promotes survival signaling responses in vitro; thus, we hypothesize that this pathway can mitigate cardiomyocyte death at the time of reperfusion to better preserve function. However, a lack of efficacious ?arr-biased orthosteric small molecules has prevented investigation into whether this pathway relays protection against ischemic injury in vivo. We recently demonstrated that the pepducin ICL1-9, a small lipidated peptide fragment designed from the first intracellular loop of ?2AR, allosterically engaged pro-survival signaling cascades in a ?arr-dependent manner in vitro. Thus, in this study we tested whether ICL1-9 relays cardioprotection against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced injury in vivo. Methods: Wild-type (WT) C57BL/6, ?2AR knockout (KO), ?arr1KO and ?arr2KO mice received intracardiac injections of either ICL1-9 or a scrambled control pepducin (Scr) at the time of ischemia (30 min) followed by reperfusion for either 24 h, to assess infarct size and cardiomyocyte death, or 4 weeks, to monitor the impact of ICL1-9 on long-term cardiac structure and function. Neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVM) were used to assess the impact of ICL1-9 versus Scr pepducin on cardiomyocyte survival and mitochondrial superoxide formation in response to either serum deprivation or hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) in vitro and to investigate the associated mechanism(s). Results: Intramyocardial injection of ICL1-9 at the time of I/R reduced infarct size, cardiomyocyte death and improved cardiac function in a ?2AR- and ?arr-dependent manner, which led to improved contractile function early and less fibrotic remodeling over time. Mechanistically, ICL1-9 attenuated mitochondrial superoxide production and promoted cardiomyocyte survival in a RhoA/ROCK-dependent manner. RhoA activation could be detected in cardiomyocytes and whole heart up to 24 h post-treatment, demonstrating the stability of ICL1-9 effects on ?arr-dependent ?2AR signaling. Conclusion: Pepducin-based allosteric modulation of ?arr-dependent ?2AR signaling represents a novel therapeutic approach to reduce reperfusion-induced cardiac injury and relay long-term cardiac remodeling benefits.

Project description:BackgroundBiased agonism of the angiotensin II receptor is known to promote cardiac contractility. Our laboratory indicated that these effects may be attributable to changes at the level of the myofilaments. However, these signaling mechanisms remain unknown. Because a common finding in dilated cardiomyopathy is a reduction in the myofilament-Ca2+ response, we hypothesized that β-arrestin signaling would increase myofilament-Ca2+ responsiveness in a model of familial dilated cardiomyopathy and improve cardiac function and morphology.MethodsWe treated a dilated cardiomyopathy-linked mouse model expressing a mutant tropomyosin (Tm-E54K) for 3 months with either TRV120067, a β-arrestin 2-biased ligand of the angiotensin II receptor, or losartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker. At the end of the treatment protocol, we assessed cardiac function using echocardiography, the myofilament-Ca2+ response of detergent-extracted fiber bundles, and used proteomic approaches to understand changes in posttranslational modifications of proteins that may explain functional changes. We also assessed signaling pathways altered in vivo and by using isolated myocytes.ResultsTRV120067- treated Tm-E54K mice showed improved cardiac structure and function, whereas losartan-treated mice had no improvement. Myofilaments of TRV120067-treated Tm-E54K mice had significantly improved myofilament-Ca2+ responsiveness, which was depressed in untreated Tm-E54K mice. We attributed these changes to increased MLC2v and MYPT1/2 phosphorylation seen only in TRV120067-treated mice. We found that the functional changes were attributable to an activation of ERK1/2-RSK3 signaling, mediated through β-arrestin, which may have a novel role in increasing MLC2v phosphorylation through a previously unrecognized interaction of β-arrestin localized to the sarcomere.ConclusionsLong-term β-arrestin 2-biased agonism of the angiotensin II receptor may be a viable approach to the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy by not only preventing maladaptive signaling, but also improving cardiac function by altering the myofilament-Ca2+ response via β-arrestin signaling pathways.

Project description:RATIONALE:MicroRNAs (miRs) are small, non-coding RNAs that function to post-transcriptionally regulate target genes. First transcribed as primary miR transcripts (pri-miRs), they are enzymatically processed by Drosha into premature miRs (pre-miRs) and further cleaved by Dicer into mature miRs. Initially discovered to desensitize ?-adrenergic receptor (?AR) signaling, ?-arrestins are now well-appreciated to modulate multiple pathways independent of G protein signaling, a concept known as biased signaling. Using the ?-arrestin-biased ?AR ligand carvedilol, we previously showed that ?-arrestin1 (not ?-arrestin2)-biased ?1AR (not ?2AR) cardioprotective signaling stimulates Drosha-mediated processing of six miRs by forming a multi-protein nuclear complex, which includes ?-arrestin1, the Drosha microprocessor complex and a single-stranded RNA binding protein hnRNPA1. OBJECTIVE:Here, we investigate whether ?-arrestin-mediated ?AR signaling induced by carvedilol could regulate Dicer-mediated miR maturation in the cytoplasm and whether this novel mechanism promotes cardioprotective signaling. METHODS AND RESULTS:In mouse hearts, carvedilol indeed upregulates three mature miRs, but not their pre-miRs and pri-miRs, in a ?-arrestin 1- or 2-dependent manner. Interestingly, carvedilol-mediated activation of miR-466g or miR-532-5p, and miR-674 is dependent on ?2ARs and ?1ARs, respectively. Mechanistically, ?-arrestin 1 or 2 regulates maturation of three newly identified ?AR/?-arrestin-responsive miRs (?-miRs) by associating with the Dicer maturation RNase III enzyme on three pre-miRs of ?-miRs. Myocardial cell approaches uncover that despite their distinct roles in different cell types, ?-miRs act as gatekeepers of cardiac cell functions by repressing deleterious targets. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings indicate a novel role for ?AR-mediated ?-arrestin signaling activated by carvedilol in Dicer-mediated miR maturation, which may be linked to its protective mechanisms.

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Molecular mechanisms of fentanyl mediated ?-arrestin biased signaling.

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Molecular mechanisms of fentanyl mediated β-arrestin biased signaling.

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