文章基本信息

标题：Cholesterol-dependent Conformational Plasticity in GPCR Dimers
本地全文：下载
作者：Xavier Prasanna ; Durba Sengupta ; Amitabha Chattopadhyay 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2016
卷号：6
期号：1
DOI：10.1038/srep31858
语种：English
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：The organization and function of the serotonin1A receptor, an important member of the GPCR family, have been shown to be cholesterol-dependent, although the molecular mechanism is not clear. We performed a comprehensive structural and dynamic analysis of dimerization of the serotonin1A receptor by coarse-grain molecular dynamics simulations totaling 3.6 ms to explore the molecular details of its cholesterol-dependent association. A major finding is that the plasticity and flexibility of the receptor dimers increase with increased cholesterol concentration. In particular, a dimer interface formed by transmembrane helices I-I was found to be sensitive to cholesterol. The modulation of dimer interface appears to arise from a combination of direct cholesterol occupancy and indirect membrane effects. Interestingly, the presence of cholesterol at the dimer interface is correlated with increased dimer plasticity and flexibility. These results represent an important step in characterizing the molecular interactions in GPCR organization with potential relevance to therapeutic interventions.