Download MendeleyHigh Pressure Promotes Binding of the Allosteric Inhibitor Zn 2+ -Cyclen in Crystals of Activated H-Ras.
Girard, E., Lopes, P., Spoerner, M., Dhaussy, A.C., Prange, T., Kalbitzer, H.R., Colloc'h, N.(2024) Chemistry 30: e202400304-e202400304
- PubMed: 38647362
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202400304
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
8OSM, 8OSN, 8OSO - PubMed Abstract:
In this work, we experimentally investigate the potency of high pressure to drive a protein toward an excited state where an inhibitor targeted for this state can bind. Ras proteins are small GTPases cycling between active GTP-bound and inactive GDP-bound states. Various states of GTP-bound Ras in active conformation coexist in solution, amongst them, state 2 which binds to effectors, and state 1, weakly populated at ambient conditions, which has a low affinity for effectors. Zn2+-cyclen is an allosteric inhibitor of Ras protein, designed to bind specifically to the state 1. In H-Ras(wt).Mg2+.GppNHp crystals soaked with Zn2+-cyclen, no binding could be observed, as expected in the state 2 conformation which is the dominant state at ambient pressure. Interestingly, Zn2+-cyclen binding is observed at 500 MPa pressure, close to the nucleotide, in Ras protein that is driven by pressure to a state 1 conformer. The unknown binding mode of Zn2+-cyclen to H-Ras can thus be fully characterized in atomic details. As a more general conjunction from our study, high pressure x-ray crystallography turns out to be a powerful method to induce transitions allowing drug binding in proteins that are in low-populated conformations at ambient conditions, enabling the design of specific inhibitors.
Organizational Affiliation:
Univ Grenoble Alpes CEA CNRS, Institut de Biologie Structurale, Grenoble, FRANCE.
