Typically considered to be cell surface sensors of extracellular signals, heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein (G protein)–coupled receptors (GPCRs) control many pathophysiological processes and are the target of 30% of therapeutic drugs. Activated receptors redistribute to endosomes, but researchers have yet to explore whether endosomal receptors generate signals that control complex processes in vivo and are viable therapeutic targets. We report that the substance P (SP) neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R) signals from endosomes to induce sustained excitation of spinal neurons and pain transmission and that specific antagonism of the NK1R in endosomes with membrane-anchored drug conjugates provides more effective and sustained pain relief than conventional plasma membrane–targeted antagonists. Pharmacological and genetic disruption of clathrin, dynamin, and β-arrestin blocked SP-induced NK1R endocytosis and prevented SP-stimulated activation of cytosolic protein kinase C and nuclear extracellular signal–regulated kinase, as well as transcription. Endocytosis inhibitors prevented sustained SP-induced excitation of neurons in spinal cord slices in vitro and attenuated nociception in vivo. When conjugated to cholestanol to promote endosomal targeting, NK1R antagonists selectively inhibited endosomal signaling and sustained neuronal excitation. Cholestanol conjugation amplified and prolonged the antinociceptive actions of NK1R antagonists. These results reveal a critical role for endosomal signaling of the NK1R in the complex pathophysiology of pain and demonstrate the use of endosomally targeted GPCR antagonists.

SUMMARY Rapid neurotransmitter release depends on the Ca2+-sensor Synaptotagmin-1 and the SNARE complex formed by synaptobrevin, syntaxin-1 and SNAP-25. How Synaptotagmin-1 triggers release remains unclear, in part because elucidating high-resolution structures of Synaptotagmin-1-SNARE complexes has been challenging. An NMR approach based on lanthanide-induced pseudocontact shifts now reveals a dynamic binding mode where basic residues in the concave side of the Synaptotagmin-1 C2B domain β-sandwich interact with a polyacidic region of the SNARE complex formed by syntaxin-1 and SNAP-25. The physiological relevance of this dynamic structural model is supported by mutations in basic residues of Synaptotagmin-1 that markedly impair SNARE-complex binding in vitro and Synaptotagmin-1 function in neurons. Mutations with milder effects on binding have correspondingly milder effects on Synaptotagmin-1 function. Our results support a model whereby their dynamic interaction facilitates cooperation between synaptotagmin-1 and the SNAREs in inducing membrane fusion.

In the present study, we have tentatively identified the structures of three oxygenated derivatives of isoprene in Amazonian rain forest aerosols as the C(5) alkene triols, 2-methyl-1,3,4-trihydroxy-1-butene (cis and trans) and 3-methyl-2,3,4-trihydroxy-1-butene. The formation of these oxygenated derivatives of isoprene can be explained by acid-catalyzed ring opening of epoxydiol derivatives of isoprene, namely, 1,2-epoxy-2-methyl-3,4-dihydroxybutane and 1,2-dihydroxy-2-methyl-3,4-epoxybutane. The structural proposals of the C(5) alkene triols were based on chemical derivatization reactions and detailed interpretation of electron and chemical ionization mass spectral data, including data obtained from first-order mass spectra, deuterium labeling of the trimethylsilyl methyl groups, and MS(2) ion trap experiments. The characterization of 2-methyl-1,3,4-trihydroxy-1-butene (cis and trans) and 3-methyl-2,3,4-trihydroxy-1-butene in forest aerosols is important from an atmospheric chemistry viewpoint in that these compounds hint at the formation of intermediate isomeric epoxydiol derivatives of isoprene and as such provide mechanistic insights into the formation of the previously reported 2-methyltetrols through photooxidation of isoprene.

Double electron-electron resonance (DEER) distance measurements of a protein complex tagged with two Gd(3+) chelates developed for rigid positioning of the metal ion are shown to deliver outstandingly accurate distance measurements in the 6 nm range. The accuracy was assessed by comparison with modeled distance distributions based on the three-dimensional molecular structures of the protein and the tag and further comparison with paramagnetic NMR data. The close agreement between the predicted and experimentally measured distances opens new possibilities for investigating the structure of biomolecular assemblies. As an example, we show that the dimer interface of rat ERp29 in solution is the same as that determined previously for human ERp29 in the single crystal.