Unveiling functional motions based on point mutations in biased signaling systems: A normal mode study on nerve growth factor bound to TrkA

PLoS One. 2020 Jun 4;15(6):e0231542. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231542. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Many receptors elicit signal transduction by activating multiple intracellular pathways. This transduction can be triggered by a non-specific ligand, which simultaneously activates all the signaling pathways of the receptors. However, the binding of one biased ligand preferentially trigger one pathway over another, in a process called biased signaling. The identification the functional motions related to each of these distinct pathways has a direct impact on the development of new effective and specific drugs. We show here how to detect specific functional motions by considering the case of the NGF/TrkA-Ig2 complex. NGF-mediated TrkA receptor activation is dependent on specific structural motions that trigger the neuronal growth, development, and survival of neurons in nervous system. The R221W mutation in the ngf gene impairs nociceptive signaling. We discuss how the large-scale structural effects of this mutation lead to the suppression of collective motions necessary to induce TrkA activation of nociceptive signaling. Our results suggest that subtle changes in the NGF interaction network due to the point mutation are sufficient to inhibit the motions of TrkA receptors putatively linked to nociception. The methodological approach presented in this article, based jointly on the normal mode analysis and the experimentally observed functional alterations due to point mutations provides an essential tool to reveal the structural changes and motions linked to the disease, which in turn could be necessary for a drug design study.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Models, Molecular*
  • Movement
  • Nerve Growth Factor / chemistry
  • Nerve Growth Factor / metabolism*
  • Point Mutation*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Conformation
  • Receptor, trkA / chemistry
  • Receptor, trkA / genetics*
  • Receptor, trkA / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction*

Substances

  • Nerve Growth Factor
  • Receptor, trkA

Grants and funding

This work was performed using HPC resources from the “Mésocentre” computing center of Centrale Supélec and École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay supported by Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France) and Région Île-de-France (http://mesocentre.centralesupelec.fr/). We gratefully acknowledge financial support from Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), process number: 88881.133141/2016-01 to PTRL.