Structural Determinants of Integrin Beta-Subunit Specificity for Latent Tgf-Beta

(2014) Nat Struct Mol Biol 21: 1091

• PubMed: 25383667 Search on PubMedSearch on PubMed Central
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2905
• Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
  4UM8,4UM9


• PubMed Abstract: 
  

  Eight integrin α-β heterodimers recognize ligands with an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) motif. However, the structural mechanism by which integrins differentiate among extracellular proteins with RGD motifs is not understood. Here, crystal structures, mutations and peptide-affinity measurements show that αVβ6 binds with high affinity to a RGDLXXL/I motif within the prodomains of TGF-β1 and TGF-β3. The LXXL/I motif forms an amphipathic α-helix that binds in a hydrophobic pocket in the β6 subunit. Elucidation of the basis for ligand binding specificity by the integrin β subunit reveals contributions by three different βI-domain loops, which we designate specificity-determining loops (SDLs) 1, 2 and 3. Variation in a pair of single key residues in SDL1 and SDL3 correlates with the variation of the entire β subunit in integrin evolution, thus suggesting a paradigmatic role in overall β-subunit function.

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Organizational Affiliation: 
• 1] Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. [2] Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.