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Title: Insight into small molecule binding to the neonatal Fc receptor by X-ray crystallography and 100 kHz magic-angle-spinning NMR

Journal Article · · PLoS Biology (Online)

Aiming at the design of an allosteric modulator of the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn)–Immunoglobulin G (IgG) interaction, we developed a new methodology including NMR fragment screening, X-ray crystallography, and magic-angle-spinning (MAS) NMR at 100 kHz after sedimentation, exploiting very fast spinning of the nondeuterated soluble 42 kDa receptor construct to obtain resolved proton-detected 2D and 3D NMR spectra. FcRn plays a crucial role in regulation of IgG and serum albumin catabolism. It is a clinically validated drug target for the treatment of autoimmune diseases caused by pathogenic antibodies via the inhibition of its interaction with IgG. We herein present the discovery of a small molecule that binds into a conserved cavity of the heterodimeric, extracellular domain composed of an α-chain and β2-microglobulin (β2m) (FcRnECD, 373 residues). X-ray crystallography was used alongside NMR at 100 kHz MAS with sedimented soluble protein to explore possibilities for refining the compound as an allosteric modulator. Proton-detected MAS NMR experiments on fully protonated [13C,15N]-labeled FcRnECD yielded ligand-induced chemical-shift perturbations (CSPs) for residues in the binding pocket and allosteric changes close to the interface of the two receptor heterodimers present in the asymmetric unit as well as potentially in the albumin interaction site. X-ray structures with and without ligand suggest the need for an optimized ligand to displace the α-chain with respect to β2m, both of which participate in the FcRnECD–IgG interaction site. Our investigation establishes a method to characterize structurally small molecule binding to nondeuterated large proteins by NMR, even in their glycosylated form, which may prove highly valuable for structure-based drug discovery campaigns.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; German Research Foundation (DFG); iNEXT; Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF); European Research Council (ERC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SFB 1078 B1; WP1; 200020_159707; 200020_146757; 741863, FASTER
OSTI ID:
1499751
Journal Information:
PLoS Biology (Online), Vol. 16, Issue 5; ISSN 1545-7885
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 21 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (11)

Including Protons in Solid-State NMR Resonance Assignment and Secondary Structure Analysis: The Example of RNA Polymerase II Subunits Rpo4/7 journal October 2019
100 kHz MAS Proton-Detected NMR Spectroscopy of Hepatitis B Virus Capsids journal July 2019
Nucleotide Binding Modes in a Motor Protein Revealed by 31P‐ and 1H‐Detected MAS Solid‐State NMR Spectroscopy text January 2020
100 kHz MAS Proton-Detected NMR Spectroscopy of Hepatitis B Virus Capsids text January 2019
Sedimentation Yields Long-Term Stable Protein Samples as Shown by Solid-State NMR text January 2020
An Efficient, Robust New Scheme for Establishing Broadband Homonuclear Correlations in Biomolecular Solid State NMR journal January 2020
Nucleotide Binding Modes in a Motor Protein Revealed by 31 P‐ and 1 H‐Detected MAS Solid‐State NMR Spectroscopy journal September 2019
Including Protons in Solid-State NMR Resonance Assignment and Secondary Structure Analysis: The Example of RNA Polymerase II Subunits Rpo4/7 text January 2019
MAS dependent sensitivity of different isotopomers in selectively methyl protonated protein samples in solid state NMR journal September 2019
Characterization of H-2-Splitting Products of Frustrated Lewis Pairs: Benefit of Fast Magic-Angle Spinning text January 2019
Characterization of H 2 -Splitting Products of Frustrated Lewis Pairs: Benefit of Fast Magic-Angle Spinning journal February 2019

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