Design and characterization of superpotent bivalent ligands targeting oxytocin receptor dimers via a channel-like structure

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Busnelli, Marta, Kleinau, Gunnar, Muttenthaler, Markus, Stoev, Stoytcho, Manning, Maurice, Bibic, Lucka, Howell, Lesley A., McCormick, Peter J., Di Lascio, Simona, Braida, Daniela, Sala, Mariaelvina, Rovati, G. Enrico, Bellini, Tommaso and Chini, Bice (2016) Design and characterization of superpotent bivalent ligands targeting oxytocin receptor dimers via a channel-like structure. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 59 (15). 7152–7166. ISSN 0022-2623

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Abstract

Dimeric/oligomeric states of G-protein coupled receptors have been difficult to target. We report here bivalent ligands consisting of two identical oxytocin-mimetics that induce a three order magnitude boost in G-protein signaling of oxytocin receptors (OTRs) in vitro and a 100- and 40-fold gain in potency in vivo in the social behavior of mice and zebrafish. Through receptor mutagenesis and interference experiments with synthetic peptides mimicking transmembrane helices (TMH), we show that such superpotent behavior follows from the binding of the bivalent ligands to dimeric receptors based on a TMH1-TMH2 interface. Moreover, in this arrangement, only the analogues with a well-defined spacer length (∼25 Å) precisely fit inside a channel-like passage between the two protomers of the dimer. The newly discovered oxytocin bivalent ligands represent a powerful tool for targeting dimeric OTR in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders and, in general, provide a framework to untangle specific arrangements of G-protein coupled receptor dimers.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is an open access article published under an ACS AuthorChoice License, which permits copying and redistribution of the article or any adaptations for non-commercial purposes
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Pharmacy
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Medicinal Chemistry (former - to 2017)
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 24 Sep 2016 00:25
Last Modified: 21 Oct 2022 06:31
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/60038
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00564

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