Ning Ma

The folded structure of a protein is understood to be an optimal energy state. However, previous studies have shown that certain amino acid residue positions that play a critical role in protein function are often in a suboptimal energy state or “frustrated”. Here, we leverage over 1200 three-dimensional structures of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to demonstrate that residues at the interface between GPCR and its ligand or G protein contain a higher density of frustrated residues compared to other structural regions in the receptor. Likewise, the Gα subunit of the trimeric G proteins shows multiple clusters of highly frustrated residues on its surface that overlap with their effector protein (Gbγ, RGS, Adenylyl cyclase, Ric8) binding interfaces. Our study highlights the use of protein frustration as one of the multiple structural properties to identify protein–protein interfaces and for prospective prediction of potential ligand binding sites.

Odorant receptors (ORs) belong to class A G protein coupled receptors that detect diverse small molecules, yet the steps that link odorant association to receptor mediated selectivity remains incompletely defined. Here we combined 1.26 milliseconds of all-atom odorant association Molecular Dynamics simulations with Markov state modeling and cell-based cAMP measurements to examine two human ORs receptors that recognize chemically distinct odorants. In the class I receptor OR51E2, propionate associates via two extracellular pathways gated for selectivity by residues in the extracellular loop 2 and 3. The longer alkyl chain heptanoate occupies this gate and reduces propionate association and signaling which is consistent with the observed antagonist behavior of heptanoate. Pocket-expanding mutations at F155 and L158 allosterically regulate ECL2-ECL3 gate by permitting longer-chain fatty acids to adopt fully inserted poses that support gate closure, while also attenuating propionate responses. In the class II receptor OR1A1, hydrophobic odorants partition into the membrane and reach the orthosteric site mostly through multiple transmembrane paths. A mutational scan of gating residues and analysis of intermediate-state occupancies suggest that an orthosteric substitution at G108 can allosterically bias odorant association path choice. Together, these results support a model in which odorant association paths and gate residence, together with allosteric coupling between the orthosteric site and entry gates, contribute to odorant specificity and antagonism in odorant receptors.

GPCR therapeutics primarily target structured cavities formed by the seven transmembrane α-helices. However, amino acid sequence conservation in structured regions, especially among receptor subtypes, limits target selectivity. Here, we leverage the sequence divergence of the third intracellular loop (ICL3) of the receptor fold to derive a selective positive allosteric modulator for the β₂ adrenergic receptor (β₂AR). We repurpose the variable regions of a previously reported monoclonal antibody (Mab5) as single-chain (ScFv5) and single-domain (VhhL5) antibody fragments that enhance the maximal second messenger cyclic AMP signaling response downstream of the receptor. Despite ScFv5 binding a segment of ICL3 distinct to β₂AR, it also non-selectively binds and modulates cAMP signaling downstream of β₁AR and β₃AR. We find that this lack of specificity stems from multiple redundant interactions that facilitate ScFv5-ICL3 binding. In contrast, VhhL5, derived from the Mab5 light chain, selectively modulates β₂AR signaling over the β₁/β₃ subtypes. Mechanistically, VhhL5 enhances agonist-stimulated β₂AR-G protein coupling through releasing autoinhibitory ICL3 conformational states. In parallel, VhhL5 decreases β₂AR internalization promoting greater ligand-induced accumulation of cAMP. Our study demonstrates proof-of-concept for selective allosteric modulation of a GPCR by targeting a sequence divergent loop region within the receptor fold.

The small GTPase RAN plays a role in the biogenesis of mature miR-126, which is supplied by the bone marrow arterioles to leukemic stem cells (LSCs). MiR-126 supports the homeostasis of LSCs that initiate and maintain acute myeloid leukemia (AML). While therapeutic targeting of RAN has been difficult due to its structural features, through molecular dynamics simulations and docking studies, we have identified MAR-3.6.2 as a novel allosteric inhibitor that binds in a cryptic pocket in the C-terminal domain of RAN. We showed that MAR-3.6.2 disrupted RAN interaction with its guanine nucleotide exchange factor RCC1 and prevented the nuclear switch of RAN-GDP to RAN-GTP. This in turn led to RAN nuclear retention and reduced the RAN/XPO5-mediated export of pre-miR-126, thereby limiting mature miR-126 biogenesis in endothelial cells and their exogenous supply of mature miR-126 to LSCs. In a Mll ^PTD/WT /Flt3 ^ITD/ITD AML murine model, MAR-3.6.2 reduced leukemia burden, prolonged survival, and decreased LSC frequency in secondary transplants. These findings highlight MAR-3.6.2 and future, potential derivatives as a promising small molecule-based approach to eradicate AML LSCs via inhibition of RAN/XPO5 trafficking and block of miR-126 biogenesis.

CD25 is a subunit of the interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor on T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. Acute leukemias with oncogenic tyrosine kinases often include CD25 ⁺ leukemia subpopulations, which portend poor clinical outcomes for patients; however, acute leukemia cells do not respond to IL-2. Here, we identified CD25 and its phosphorylation by protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ) as central elements of a feedback loop that stabilized fluctuations in oncogenic tyrosine kinase signaling in acute lymphoblastic and myeloid leukemia. Genetic ablation of CD25 in murine and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of acute leukemias reduced clonal fitness, colony formation, and leukemia-initiation capacity in serial transplant recipients. Oncogenic tyrosine kinase signaling in leukemia cells stimulated NF-κB–mediated CD25 expression, whereas PKCδ-mediated phosphorylation of CD25 suppressed oncogenic tyrosine kinase signaling through inhibitory phosphatases, such as PTPN6. Interactome analyses and mass spectrometry–based global phosphoproteomic analyses showed that CD25 deletion abolished the phosphatase activity of PTPN6, resulting in enhanced activation of tyrosine kinases and NF-κB. Four injections of a CD25 antibody-drug conjugate induced complete remission in mice transplanted with PDX refractory leukemia. These findings highlight the dependency of tyrosine kinase–driven leukemias on robust feedback control and the role of PKCδ and CD25 in assembling its components.

Targeted protein degradation using proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) offers a promising strategy to eliminate previously undruggable proteins. PROTACs are bifunctional molecules that link a target protein with an E3 ubiquitin ligase, enabling the formation of a ternary complex that promotes ubiquitination and subsequent proteasomal degradation. Although many ternary complex structures are available, understanding how structural features relate to PROTAC function remains challenging due to the dynamic nature of these complexes. Here we show that the interface between the target protein SMARCA2 and the E3 ligase VHL is conformationally flexible and stabilized by interactions involving disordered loops. Using molecular dynamics simulations and X-ray crystallography of SMARCA2–VHL complexes bound to five different PROTACs, we find that interfacial residues often adopt energetically suboptimal, or ‘frustrated,’ configurations. We further show that the degree of frustration correlates with experimentally measured cooperativity for a set of 11 PROTACs. These findings suggest that quantifying interface frustration provides a rational, structure-based approach to guiding PROTAC design.

The folded structure of a protein is understood to be an optimal energy state. However, previous studies have shown that certain amino acid residue positions that play a critical role in protein function are often in a suboptimal energy state or “frustrated”. Here, we leverage over 1200 three-dimensional structures of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to demonstrate that residues at the interface between GPCR and its ligand or G protein contain a higher density of frustrated residues compared to other structural regions in the receptor. Likewise, the Gα subunit of the trimeric G proteins shows multiple clusters of highly frustrated residues on its surface that overlap with their effector protein (Gβγ, RGS, Adenyl cyclase, Ric8) binding interfaces. Compared to the co-evolved GPCR:G protein complexes, engineered protein complexes, such as those facilitated by molecular degraders, show a much greater density of highly frustrated residues in the degrader interface. Our study highlights the use of protein frustration as an invaluable tool to evaluate both native protein-protein interfaces and design strategies to facilitate engineered protein complexes.

Ran is a small GTPase of the Ras superfamily that governs nucleocytoplasmic transport, including that of miR-126, a microRNA that supports the homeostasis and expansion of leukemia stem cells (LSCs). Ran binds to Exportin 5 to facilitate the transport of precursor (pre)-miR-126 across the nuclear membrane for its maturation. Our goal is to inhibit Ran to prevent transport of pre-miR-126 to the cytoplasm. Like other Ras family proteins, targeting Ran with small molecules is challenging due to its relatively flat surface and lack of binding cavities. Ran's activity is regulated by a long and disordered C-terminus that provides opportunities for identifying cryptic binding pockets to target. We used a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and experiments and uncovered the critical role of the ensemble of the C-terminal conformations that enable the transition of Ran from the GTP-bound "on state" to its GDP-bound "off-state". We also showed that the Ran C-terminus allosterically modulates the conformations of residues in the nucleotide binding site and in the functionally relevant Switch 1 and 2 regions. Through computational deep mutational scans and experiments, we identified four residue hotspots L182, Y197, D200, and L201 at the core-C-terminus interface and four residue mutations V27A, E70D, N122A, and N122Y that mediate the allosteric communication between the core and switch regions. This information paves the way for our next step in the design of novel allosteric modulators for Ran.

PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs), also known as Ligand-Directed Degraders (LDDs), are an innovative class of small molecules that leverage the ubiquitin-proteasome system to induce the degradation of target proteins. Structure based design methods are not readily applicable for designing LDDs due to the dynamic nature of the ternary complexes. This study investigates the dynamic properties of five LDD-mediated BRD4-Cereblon complexes, focusing on the challenges of evaluating linker efficiency due to the difficulty in identifying suitable computational metrics that correlate well with the cooperativity or degradation propensity of LDDs. We uncovered that protein frustration, a concept originally developed to understand protein folding, calculated for the residues in the protein-protein interface of the LDD-mediated ternary complexes recapitulate the strength of degradation of the LDDs. Our findings indicated that hydrophobic residues in the interface are among the highly frustrated residues pairs, and they are crucial in distinguishing strong degraders from weak ones. By analyzing frustration patterns, we identified key residues and interactions critical to the effectiveness of the ternary complex. These insights provide practical guidelines for designing and prioritizing more efficient degraders, paving the way for the development of next-generation LDDs with improved therapeutic potential.

Strong ligand directed degraders stabilize the hydrophobic residue burial between the E3 ligase and the target protein to be degraded. Weak degraders destabilize the ternary complex through multiple mechanisms.