Structure-guided engineering of biased-agonism in the human niacin receptor via single amino acid substitution.

The Hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 2 (HCA2), also known as the niacin receptor or GPR109A, is a prototypical GPCR that plays a central role in the inhibition of lipolytic and atherogenic activities. Its activation also results in vasodilation that is linked to the side-effect of flushing associated with dyslipidemia drugs such as niacin. GPR109A continues to be a target for developing potential therapeutics in dyslipidemia with minimized flushing response. Here, we present cryo-EM structures of the GPR109A in complex with dyslipidemia drugs, niacin or acipimox, non-flushing agonists, MK6892 or GSK256073, and recently approved psoriasis drug, monomethyl fumarate (MMF). These structures elucidate the binding mechanism of agonists, molecular basis of receptor activation, and insights into biased signaling elicited by some of the agonists. The structural framework also allows us to engineer receptor mutants that exhibit G-protein signaling bias, and therefore, our study may help in structure-guided drug discovery efforts targeting this receptor.

Molecular basis of anaphylatoxin binding, activation, and signaling bias at complement receptors.

The complement system is a critical part of our innate immune response, and the terminal products of this cascade, anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a, exert their physiological and pathophysiological responses primarily via two GPCRs, C3aR and C5aR1. However, the molecular mechanism of ligand recognition, activation, and signaling bias of these receptors remains mostly elusive. Here, we present nine cryo-EM structures of C3aR and C5aR1 activated by their natural and synthetic agonists, which reveal distinct binding pocket topologies of complement anaphylatoxins and provide key insights into receptor activation and transducer coupling. We also uncover the structural basis of a naturally occurring mechanism to dampen the inflammatory response of C5a via proteolytic cleavage of the terminal arginine and the G-protein signaling bias elicited by a peptide agonist of C3aR identified here. In summary, our study elucidates the innerworkings of the complement anaphylatoxin receptors and should facilitate structure-guided drug discovery to target these receptors in a spectrum of disorders.