Investigating the conformational determinants of the activity of 26RFa: an orexigenic neuropeptide
Résumé
26RFa, a RFamide neuropeptide, is the ligand of the G-protein-coupled-receptor GPR103 and the system 26RFa/GPR103 is involved in different biological activities, among which the main one is an orexigenic activity in the control of food intake.[1,2] Structure-Activity Relationship studies on 26RFa truncated fragments indicated that the deletion of the first residues does not markedly alter the binding (IC50: 26RFa=3.2nM; 26RFa8-26=49nM)[3] and the biological activity (EC50: 26RFa=10.4 nM; 26RFa10-26=37.5nM) while the suppression of additional residues provokes more important effects (IC50: 26RFa17-26=220nM; 26RFa19-26=2900nM; 26RFa20-26 > 10 000 nM; EC50: 26RFa13-26=95.3nM; 26RFa16-26=237nM; 26RFa20-26=739nM).[3,4]
In order to explain these differences, we determined the solution structures of 26RFa and several N-terminal truncated fragments (26RFa7-26, 26RFa11-26, 26RFa13-26 and 26RFa20-26) in the presence of DPC micelles, a membrane mimetic medium. In this medium, 26RFa possesses an -helix (P4-K19), followed by interlaced type I -turns in the C-terminal region (F22-F26). Deletion of N-terminal residues led to destabilization (26RFa11-26) then loss of the helical conformation (26RFa13-26), but the C-terminal structuration is conserved. In 26RFa20-26, the structure of the region (F22-F26) is altered, the nature of the turns being modified.
These results show that (i) a correct 26RFa C-terminal structuration is necessary for GPR103 binding and activation; (ii) part of the N-terminal region is required to maintain this C-terminal conformation, but the entire helix is not necessary; (iii) both part of the helix and a correct C-terminal structure are necessary for 26RFa activity.
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by ERDF funding through the IS:CE-Chem project and Interreg IV A France-(Channel)-England programme. The authors also thank the CRUNCh network for its financial support and the CRIHAN for molecular modelling facilities.
References
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