Allosteric Pathways Originating at Cysteine Residues in Regulators of G-Protein Signaling Proteins.

Yong Liu, Harish Vashisth

Biophysical journal 2021 Feb 02

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Regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins play a central role in modulating signaling via G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Specifically, RGS proteins bind to activated Gα subunits in G-proteins, accelerate the GTP hydrolysis, and thereby rapidly dampen GPCR signaling. Therefore, covalent molecules targeting conserved cysteine residues among RGS proteins have emerged as potential candidates to inhibit the RGS/Gα protein-protein interaction and enhance GPCR signaling. Although these inhibitors bind to conserved cysteine residues among RGS proteins, we have previously suggested [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018;140:3454-3460] that their potencies and specificities are related to differential protein dynamics among RGS proteins. Using data from all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we reveal these differences in dynamics of RGS proteins by partitioning the protein structural space into a network of communities that allow allosteric signals to propagate along unique pathways originating at inhibitor binding sites and terminating at the RGS/Gα protein-protein interface. Copyright © 2020 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Yong Liu, Harish Vashisth. Allosteric Pathways Originating at Cysteine Residues in Regulators of G-Protein Signaling Proteins. Biophysical journal. 2021 Feb 02;120(3):517-526