Inhibitory Potential of the Truncated Isoforms on Glutamate Transporter Oligomerization Identified by Computational Analysis of Gene-Centric Isoform Maps.
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Glutamate transporters play a key role in central nervous system physiology by maintaining excitatory neurotransmitter homeostasis. Biological assemblies of the transporters, consisting of cyclic homotrimers, emerge as a crucial aspect of glutamate transporter modulation. Hence targeting heteromerization promises an effective approach for modulator design. On the other hand, the dynamic nature of transcription allows for the generation of transporter isoforms in structurally distinct manners.
Methods: The potential isoforms were identified through the analysis of computationally generated gene-centric isoform maps. The conserved features of isoform sequences were revealed by computational chemistry methods and subsequent structural analysis of AlphaFold2 predictions. Truncated isoforms were further subjected to a wide range of docking analyses, 50ns molecular dynamics simulations, and evolutionary coupling analyses.
Results: Energetic landscapes of isoform-canonical transporter complexes suggested an inhibitory potential of truncated isoforms on glutamate transporter bio-assembly. Moreover, isoforms that mimic the trimerization domain (in particular, TM2 helices) exhibited stronger interactions with canonical transporters, underscoring the role of transmembrane helices in isoform interactions. Additionally, self-assembly dynamics observed in truncated isoforms mimicking canonical TM5 helices indicate a potential protective role against unwanted interactions with canonical transporters.
Conclusion: Our computational studies on glutamate transporters offer insights into the roles of alternative splicing on protein interactions and identifies potential drug targets for physiological or pathological processes.
期刊介绍:
Pharmaceutical Research, an official journal of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, is committed to publishing novel research that is mechanism-based, hypothesis-driven and addresses significant issues in drug discovery, development and regulation. Current areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
-(pre)formulation engineering and processing-
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drug delivery and targeting-
molecular biopharmaceutics and drug disposition (including cellular and molecular pharmacology)-
pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenetics.
Research may involve nonclinical and clinical studies, and utilize both in vitro and in vivo approaches. Studies on small drug molecules, pharmaceutical solid materials (including biomaterials, polymers and nanoparticles) biotechnology products (including genes, peptides, proteins and vaccines), and genetically engineered cells are welcome.