The anion channelrhodopsin GtACR1 from the alga Guillardia theta is a potent neuron-inhibiting optogenetics tool. Presented here, its X-ray structure at 2.9 Å reveals a tunnel traversing the protein from its extracellular surface to a large cytoplasmic cavity. The tunnel is lined primarily by small polar and aliphatic residues essential for anion conductance. A disulfide-immobilized extracellular cap facilitates channel closing and the ion path is blocked mid-membrane by its photoactive retinylidene chromophore and further by a cytoplasmic side constriction. The structure also reveals a novel photoactive site configuration that maintains the retinylidene Schiff base protonated when the channel is open. These findings suggest a new channelrhodopsin mechanism, in which the Schiff base not only controls gating, but also serves as a direct mediator for anion flux.

Here, we describe two insights into the role of receptor conformational dynamics during agonist release (all-trans retinal, ATR) from the visual G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) rhodopsin. First, we show that, after light activation, ATR can continually release and rebind to any receptor remaining in an active-like conformation. As with other GPCRs, we observe that this equilibrium can be shifted by either promoting the active-like population or increasing the agonist concentration. Second, we find that during decay of the signaling state an active-like, yet empty, receptor conformation can transiently persist after retinal release, before the receptor ultimately collapses into an inactive conformation. The latter conclusion is based on timeresolved, site-directed fluorescence labeling experiments that show a small, but reproducible, lag between the retinal leaving the protein and return of transmembrane helix 6 (TM6) to the inactive conformation, as determined from tryptophan-induced quenching studies. Accelerating Schiff base hydrolysis and subsequent ATR dissociation, either by addition of hydroxylamine or introduction of mutations, further increased the time lag between ATR release and TM6 movement. These observations show that rhodopsin can bind its agonist in equilibrium like a traditional GPCR, provide evidence that an active GPCR conformation can persist even after agonist release, and raise the possibility of targeting this key photoreceptor protein by traditional pharmaceutical-based treatments.T he superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is one of the largest targets of pharmaceutical drugs in the human genome. Classically, GPCR signaling occurs when a diffusible ligand (such as a drug) binds to the receptor and stabilizes conformations that can couple with and activate intracellular proteins. Our understanding of this process has built on the classical "ternary complex" model of receptor-ligand-G protein interaction (1), a model that, with revisions, has continued to guide our knowledge of how this critical event occurs.However, this paradigm has faced problems when applied to rhodopsin, the dim-light visual receptor. Rhodopsin is kept in an "off" state by a covalently bound inverse agonist, 11-cis retinal (11CR). Light converts the 11CR to an agonist, all-trans retinal (ATR), which enables the receptor to activate its G protein, transducin (G t ) (2, 3). The active receptor, metarhodopsin II (MII), continues signaling until the Schiff base linking ATR to the receptor is hydrolyzed, resulting in the release of ATR and the decay of MII into an inactive apoprotein, opsin (4, 5). Binding of a new 11CR to opsin reforms the dark state (DS), enabling another round of photon detection (6).Due to this unusual light-activated, covalently bound ligand, rhodopsin has usually been considered "different" from the larger superfamily of diffusible ligand-binding GPCRs. However, we recently discovered that rhodopsin behaves more like a traditional ligand-binding GPCR than previously thought (7). Our expe...

Background: A current hypothesis proposes that retinal binding to opsin requires transient activation of receptor. Results: Our data show that an active conformation only promotes agonist binding; inverse agonist binding is impaired with increased relative fraction of active receptor. Conclusion: Retinal isomers must match opsin conformation to form a stable complex. Significance: Rhodopsin displays conformational selection for retinal binding similar to other ligand-binding GPCRs.

Both CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3) are activated by the chemokine CXCL12 yet evoke distinct cellular responses. CXCR4 is a canonical G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR), whereas ACKR3 is intrinsically biased for arrestin. The molecular basis for this difference is not understood. Here, we describe cryo-EM structures of ACKR3 in complex with CXCL12, a more potent CXCL12 variant, and a small-molecule agonist. The bound chemokines adopt an unexpected pose relative to those established for CXCR4 and observed in other receptor-chemokine complexes. Along with functional studies, these structures provide insight into the ligand-binding promiscuity of ACKR3, why it fails to couple to G proteins, and its bias toward β-arrestin. The results lay the groundwork for understanding the physiological interplay of ACKR3 with other GPCRs.

Various studies have implicated the concave surface of arrestin in the binding of the cytosolic surface of rhodopsin. However, specific sites of contact between the two proteins have not previously been defined in detail. Here, we report that arrestin shares part of the same binding site on rhodopsin as does the transducin Gα subunit C-terminal tail, suggesting binding of both proteins to rhodopsin may share some similar underlying mechanisms. We also identify two areas of contact between the proteins near this region. Both sites lie in the arrestin N-domain, one in the so-called “finger” loop (residues 67–79) and the other in the 160 loop (residues 155–165). We mapped these sites using a novel tryptophan-induced quenching method, in which we introduced Trp residues into arrestin and measured their ability to quench the fluorescence of bimane probes attached to cysteine residues on TM6 of rhodopsin (T242C and T243C). The involvement of finger loop binding to rhodopsin was expected, but the evidence of the arrestin 160 loop contacting rhodopsin was not. Remarkably, our data indicate one site on rhodopsin can interact with multiple structurally separate sites on arrestin that are almost 30 Å apart. Although this observation at first seems paradoxical, in fact, it provides strong support for recent hypotheses that structural plasticity and conformational changes are involved in the arrestin–rhodopsin binding interface and that the two proteins may be able to interact through multiple docking modes, with arrestin binding to both monomeric and dimeric rhodopsin.

The anion channelrhodopsin GtACR1 from the alga Guillardia theta is a potent neuron-inhibiting optogenetics tool. Presented here, its X-ray structure at 2.9 Å reveals a tunnel traversing the protein from its extracellular surface to a large cytoplasmic cavity. The tunnel is lined primarily by small polar and aliphatic residues essential for anion conductance. A disulfideimmobilized extracellular cap facilitates channel closing and the ion path is blocked midmembrane by its photoactive retinylidene chromophore and further by a cytoplasmic side constriction. The structure also reveals a novel photoactive site configuration that maintains the retinylidene Schiff base protonated when the channel is open. These findings suggest a new channelrhodopsin mechanism, in which the Schiff base not only controls gating, but also serves as a direct mediator for anion flux.

Morphine, activating Mu Opioid receptors (MOR-1), produces powerful and immediate analgesic effects. However, morphine use is limited by its high addiction tendency and other serious adverse effects. Recent studies have shown that IBNtxA, a morphine derivative, is 10-fold more potent and has a better safety profile than morphine. The animal studies indicated that the IBNtxA analgesics was from the activation of the truncated spice 6TM variants of MOR-1 in which TM1 is removed. Interestingly, IBNtxA was not able to activate the full length 7TM variants of MOR-1 and morphine was only able to activate 7TM variants but not 6TM variants. There is no high resolution structure of 6TM variants, and the activation mechanism of 6TM variants by IBNtxA remains to be elusive. In this study we used homology modeling, docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study a representative 6TM variant (G1) and the full length 7TM of human MOR-1 in complex with IBNtxA and morphine. The structure model of G1 was obtained by homology modeling based on X-ray solved crystal structure of active mouse MOR-1 bound to the agonist BU72 (PDB id: 5C1M). Our ms MD data shown that either TM1 truncation (from 7TM to 6TM) or ligand modification (from morphine to IBNtxA) alone caused the loss of key morphine-7TM interactions that are required for the receptor activation and the receptor conformation located at TM2, TM3, TM6 and TM7. However, when both perturbations occur in 6TM-IBNtxA complex, the key interactions and receptor active conformation were maintained. Our energetic, structural and dynamic data consistently supports our explanation.

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