Information on how insulin and insulin-like growth factors 1 and 2 (IGF-1 and -2) activate insulin receptors (IR-A and -B) and the IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is crucial for understanding the difference in the biological activities of these peptide hormones. Cryo-EM studies have revealed that insulin uses its binding sites 1 and 2 to interact with IR-A and have identified several critical residues in binding site 2. However, mutagenesis studies suggest that Ile-A10, Ser-A12, Leu-A13, and Glu-A17 also belong to insulin's site 2. Here, to resolve this discrepancy, we mutated these insulin residues and the equivalent residues in IGFs. Our findings revealed that equivalent mutations in the hormones can result in differential biological effects and that these effects can be receptor-specific. We noted that the insulin positions A10 and A17 are important for its binding to IR-A and IR-B and IGF-1R and that A13 is important only for IR-A and IR-B binding. The IGF-1/IGF-2 positions 51/50 and 54/53 did not appear to play critical roles in receptor binding, but mutations at IGF-1 position 58 and IGF-2 position 57 affected the binding. We propose that IGF-1 Glu-58 interacts with IGF-1R Arg-704 and belongs to IGF-1 site 1, a finding supported by the NMR structure of the less active Asp-58-IGF-1 variant. Computational analyses indicated that the aforementioned mutations can affect internal insulin dynamics and inhibit adoption of a receptor-bound conformation, important for binding to receptor site 1. We provide a molecular model and alternative hypotheses for how the mutated insulin residues affect activity.

• Klíčová slova
• NMR structure, complex, hormone analog, insulin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF), molecular dynamics, mutagenesis, peptide hormone, receptor autophosphorylation, receptor binding, receptor tyrosine kinase, structural biology, structure-function,
• MeSH
• insulinu podobný růstový faktor I chemie   genetika   MeSH
• insulinu podobný růstový faktor II chemie   genetika   MeSH
• inzulin analogy a deriváty   chemická syntéza   chemie   genetika   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mnohočetné abnormality genetika   MeSH
• mutace genetika   MeSH
• nukleární magnetická rezonance biomolekulární MeSH
• poruchy růstu genetika   MeSH
• proteinové domény genetika   MeSH
• receptor IGF typ 1 chemie   genetika   MeSH
• receptor inzulinu chemie   genetika   MeSH
• sekvence aminokyselin genetika   MeSH
• vazba proteinů genetika   MeSH
• vazebná místa genetika   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• IGF1R protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• IGF2 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• insulinu podobný růstový faktor I MeSH
• insulinu podobný růstový faktor II MeSH
• inzulin MeSH
• receptor IGF typ 1 MeSH
• receptor inzulinu MeSH

Carbohydrates constitute a structurally and functionally diverse group of biological molecules and macromolecules. In cells they are involved in, e.g., energy storage, signaling, and cell-cell recognition. All of these phenomena take place in atomistic scales, thus atomistic simulation would be the method of choice to explore how carbohydrates function. However, the progress in the field is limited by the lack of appropriate tools for preparing carbohydrate structures and related topology files for the simulation models. Here we present tools that fill this gap. Applications where the tools discussed in this paper are particularly useful include, among others, the preparation of structures for glycolipids, nanocellulose, and glycans linked to glycoproteins. The molecular structures and simulation files generated by the tools are compatible with GROMACS.

• MeSH
• biochemie sacharidů metody   MeSH
• glykolipidy chemie   MeSH
• glykoproteiny chemie   MeSH
• polysacharidy chemie   MeSH
• sacharidy chemie   MeSH
• simulace molekulární dynamiky * MeSH
• software MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• glykolipidy MeSH
• glykoproteiny MeSH
• polysacharidy MeSH
• sacharidy MeSH

Insulin and insulin-like growth factors I and II are closely related protein hormones. Their distinct evolution has resulted in different yet overlapping biological functions with insulin becoming a key regulator of metabolism, whereas insulin-like growth factors (IGF)-I/II are major growth factors. Insulin and IGFs cross-bind with different affinities to closely related insulin receptor isoforms A and B (IR-A and IR-B) and insulin-like growth factor type I receptor (IGF-1R). Identification of structural determinants in IGFs and insulin that trigger their specific signaling pathways is of increasing importance in designing receptor-specific analogs with potential therapeutic applications. Here, we developed a straightforward protocol for production of recombinant IGF-II and prepared six IGF-II analogs with IGF-I-like mutations. All modified molecules exhibit significantly reduced affinity toward IR-A, particularly the analogs with a Pro-Gln insertion in the C-domain. Moreover, one of the analogs has enhanced binding affinity for IGF-1R due to a synergistic effect of the Pro-Gln insertion and S29N point mutation. Consequently, this analog has almost a 10-fold higher IGF-1R/IR-A binding specificity in comparison with native IGF-II. The established IGF-II purification protocol allowed for cost-effective isotope labeling required for a detailed NMR structural characterization of IGF-II analogs that revealed a link between the altered binding behavior of selected analogs and conformational rearrangement of their C-domains.

• Klíčová slova
• insulin, insulin receptor, insulin-like growth factor (IGF), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), structural biology, structure-function,
• MeSH
• CD antigeny chemie   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• insulinu podobný růstový faktor II chemie   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• missense mutace MeSH
• protein - isoformy chemie   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• proteinové domény MeSH
• receptor IGF typ 1 chemie   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• receptor inzulinu chemie   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• rekombinantní proteiny chemie   genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• substituce aminokyselin MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• CD antigeny MeSH
• IGF2 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• INSR protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• insulinu podobný růstový faktor II MeSH
• protein - isoformy MeSH
• receptor IGF typ 1 MeSH
• receptor inzulinu MeSH
• rekombinantní proteiny MeSH