Stem cell homing and breast cancer metastasis are orchestrated by the chemokine SDF-1 and its receptor CXCR4. Here, we report the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure of a constitutively dimeric SDF-1 in complex with a CXCR4 fragment that contains three sulfotyrosine residues important for a high-affinity ligand-receptor interaction. CXCR4 bridged the SDF-1 dimer interface so that sulfotyrosines sTyr 7 and sTyr 12 of CXCR4 occupied positively charged clefts on opposing chemokine subunits. Dimeric SDF-1 induced intracellular Ca 2+ mobilization but had no chemotactic activity; instead, it prevented native SDF-1-induced chemotaxis, suggesting that it acted as a potent partial agonist. Our work elucidates the structural basis for sulfotyrosine recognition in the chemokine-receptor interaction and suggests a novel strategy for CXCR4-targeted drug development.

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SUMMARYTyrosine sulfation of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 enhances its interaction with the chemokine SDF-1α. Given similar post-translational modification of other receptors, including CCR5, CX3CR1 and CCR2b, tyrosine sulfation may be of universal importance in chemokine signaling. N-terminal domains from 7-transmembrane chemokine receptors have been employed for structural studies of chemokine-receptor interactions, but never in the context of proper post-translational modifications known to affect function. A CXCR4 peptide modified at position 21 by expressed tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase-1 and unmodified peptide are both disordered in solution, but bind SDF-1α with low micromolar affinities. NMR and fluorescence polarization measurements showed that the CXCR4 peptide stabilizes dimeric SDF-1α, and that sulfotyrosine 21 binds a specific site on the chemokine that includes arginine 47. We conclude that SDF-1α dimer preferentially interacts with receptor peptide, and residues beyond the extreme N-terminal region of CXCR4, including sulfotyrosine 21, make specific contacts with the chemokine ligand.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1

T yrosine (Tyr) sulfation, also referred to as Tyr O-sulfonation, of proteins and peptides is one of the most common post-translational modifications in multicellular eukaryotes.1 It has been estimated that up to 1% of all Tyr residues in the eukaryotic proteome are sulfated.2 However, Tyr sulfation does not occur in prokaryotes or in unicellular eukaryotes such as yeast.

The second extracellular loop of rhodopsin folds back into the membrane-embedded domain of the receptor to form part of the binding pocket for the 11-cis-retinylidene chromophore. A carboxylic acid side chain from this loop, Glu181, points toward the center of the retinal polyene chain. We studied the role of Glu181 in bovine rhodopsin by characterizing a set of site-directed mutants. Sixteen of the 19 single-site mutants expressed and bound 11-cis-retinal to form pigments. The lambda(max) value of mutant pigment E181Q showed a significant spectral red shift to 508 nm only in the absence of NaCl. Other substitutions did not significantly affect the spectral features of the mutant pigments in the dark. Thus, Glu181 does not contribute significantly to spectral tuning of the ground state of rhodopsin. The most likely interpretation of these data is that Glu181 is protonated and uncharged in the dark state of rhodopsin. The Glu181 mutants displayed significantly increased reactivity toward hydroxylamine in the dark. The mutants formed metarhodopsin II-like photoproducts upon illumination but many of the photoproducts displayed shifted lambda(max) values. In addition, the metarhodopsin II-like photoproducts of the mutant pigments had significant alterations in their decay rates. The increased reactivity of the mutants to hydroxylamine supports the notion that the second extracellular loop prevents solvent access to the chromophore-binding pocket. In addition, Glu181 strongly affects the environment of the retinylidene Schiff base in the active metarhodopsin II photoproduct.

The CC-chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is the major coreceptor for the entry of macrophage-tropic (R5) HIV-1 strains into target cells. Posttranslational sulfation of tyrosine residues in the N-terminal tail of CCR5 is critical for high affinity interaction of the receptor with the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120 in complex with CD4. Here, we focused on defining precisely the sulfation pattern of the N terminus of CCR5 by using recombinant human tyrosylprotein sulfotransferases TPST-1 and TPST-2 to modify a synthetic peptide that corresponds to amino acids 2-18 of the receptor (CCR5 2-18). Analysis of the reaction products was made with a combination of reversed-phase HPLC, proteolytic cleavage, and matrix-assisted laser desorption͞ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). We found that CCR5 2-18 is sulfated by both TPST isoenzymes leading to a final product with four sulfotyrosine residues. Sulfates were added stepwise to the peptide producing specific intermediates with one, two, or three sulfotyrosines. The pattern of sulfation in these intermediates suggests that Tyr-14 and Tyr-15 are sulfated first, followed by Tyr-10, and finally Tyr-3. These results represent a detailed analysis of the multiple sulfation reaction of a peptide substrate by TPSTs and provide a structural basis for understanding the role of tyrosine sulfation of CCR5 in HIV-1 coreceptor and chemokine receptor function. The CC-chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is a member of the protein superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) (1-3). High-affinity binding of the CC-chemokines MIP-1␣, MIP-1␤, RANTES (1-3), or MCP-2 (4) to CCR5 induces signaling through G proteins of the G i subfamily (1) and leads to chemotactic responses in CCR5-expressing leukocytes (5).In addition to their physiological function in chemokine signaling, some chemokine receptors are used as coreceptors by HIV-1. Entry of HIV-1 into target cells is mediated by the sequential interaction of the envelope glycoprotein gp120 with CD4 and a chemokine receptor on the cell membrane (6). CCR5 and CXCR4 are the primary HIV-1 coreceptors in vivo (7,8). CCR5, in particular, is the principal coreceptor for macrophage-tropic HIV-1 strains (R5 isolates) that are commonly transmitted between individuals (6, 9). A naturally occurring CCR5 mutant (⌬32) with a deletion in the second extracellular loop results in impaired membrane expression of the receptor and leads to resistance to HIV-1 infection in homozygous individuals (6).Interaction with both types of CCR5 ligands, CC-chemokines and the HIV-1 gp120-CD4 complex, involves the N-terminal domain, as well as other extracellular regions of the receptor (10-13). Within the N-terminal domain, a region rich in tyrosine residues and acidic amino acid residues ( Fig. 1; residues 2-18) was identified as a major determinant of HIV-1 coreceptor function (11,12,(14)(15)(16)(17). Sequence similarities with proteins known to be modified by tyrosine O-sulfation, a posttranslational modification mediated by tyrosylprotein sulfotransfera...

The CC-chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is the major coreceptor for macrophage-tropic (R5) HIV-1 strains. Several small molecule inhibitors of CCR5 that block chemokine binding and HIV-1 entry are being evaluated as drug candidates. Here we define how CCR5 antagonists TAK-779, AD101 (SCH-350581) and SCH-C (SCH-351125), which inhibit HIV-1 entry, interact with CCR5. Using a mutagenesis approach in combination with a viral entry assay to provide a direct functional read out, we tested predictions based on a homology model of CCR5 and analyzed the functions of more than 30 amino acid residues. We find that a key set of aromatic and aliphatic residues serves as a hydrophobic core for the ligand binding pocket, while E283 is critical for high affinity interaction, most likely by acting as the counterion for a positively charged nitrogen atom common to all three inhibitors. These results provide a structural basis for understanding how specific antagonists interact with CCR5, and may be useful for the rational design of new, improved CCR5 ligands.