PUBLICATION

Molecular determinants of ligand selectivity in a vertebrate odorant receptor

Authors
Luu, P., Acher, F., Bertrand, H.O., Fan, J., and Ngai, J.
ID
ZDB-PUB-041115-2
Date
2004
Source
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience   24(45): 10128-10137 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Ngai, John
Keywords
olfaction; olfactory; odorant receptor; G-protein-coupled receptor; ligand binding; signal transduction
MeSH Terms
  • Amino Acids/chemistry
  • Amino Acids/metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Arginine/chemistry
  • Arginine/metabolism
  • Binding Sites
  • Calcium/analysis
  • Cell Line/chemistry
  • DNA, Complementary/genetics
  • Gene Library
  • Glycine/chemistry
  • Goldfish/genetics
  • Humans
  • Kidney/chemistry
  • Kidney/cytology
  • Ligands
  • Models, Molecular
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Receptors, Odorant/chemistry*
  • Receptors, Odorant/genetics
  • Receptors, Odorant/metabolism
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins/chemistry
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins/metabolism
  • Species Specificity
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Substrate Specificity
  • Zebrafish Proteins/chemistry*
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
PubMed
15537883 Full text @ J. Neurosci.
Abstract
The identification of the chemical structure of an odorant by the vertebrate olfactory system is thought to occur through the combinatorial activity from multiple receptors, each tuned to recognize different chemical features. What are the molecular determinants underlying the selectivity of individual odorant receptors for their cognate ligands? To address this question, we performed molecular modeling and site-directed mutagenesis on the ligand-binding region of two orthologous amino acid odorant receptors belonging to the "C family" of G-protein-coupled receptors in goldfish and zebrafish. We identified the critical ligand-receptor interactions that afford ligand binding as well as selectivity for different amino acids. Moreover, predictions regarding binding pocket structure allowed us to alter, in a predictable manner, the receptor preferences for different ligands. These results reveal how this class of odorant receptor has evolved to accommodate ligands of varying chemical structure and further illuminate the molecular principles underlying ligand recognition and selectivity in this family of chemosensory receptors.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping