Stabilizing a Flexible Interdomain Hinge Region Harboring the SMB Binding Site Drives uPAR into Its Closed Conformation

Baoyu Zhao, Sonu Gandhi, Cai Yuan, Zhipu Luo, Rui Li, Henrik Gårdsvoll, Valentina de Lorenzi, Nicolai Sidenius, Mingdong Huang, Michael Ploug

    13 Citationer (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is a multidomain glycolipid-anchored membrane protein, which facilitates extracellular matrix remodeling by focalizing plasminogen activation to cell surfaces via its high-affinity interaction with uPA. The modular assembly of its three LU (Ly6/uPAR-like) domains is inherently flexible and binding of uPA drives uPAR into its closed conformation, which presents the higher-affinity state for vitronectin thus providing an allosteric regulatory mechanism. Using a new class of epitope-mapped anti-uPAR monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), we now demonstrate that the reciprocal stabilization is indeed also possible. By surface plasmon resonance studies, we show that these mAbs and vitronectin have overlapping binding sites on uPAR and that they share Arg91 as hotspot residue in their binding interfaces. The crystal structure solved for one of these uPAR·mAb complexes at 3.0 Å clearly shows that this mAb preselects the closed uPAR conformation with an empty but correctly assembled large hydrophobic binding cavity for uPA. Accordingly, these mAbs inhibit the uPAR-dependent lamellipodia formation and migration on vitronectin-coated matrices irrespective of the conformational status of uPAR and its occupancy with uPA. This is the first study to the best of our knowledge, showing that the dynamic assembly of the three LU domains in uPARwt can be driven toward the closed form by an external ligand, which is not engaging the hydrophobic uPA binding cavity. As this binding interface is also exploited by the somatomedin B domain of vitronectin, therefore, this relationship should be taken into consideration when exploring uPAR-dependent cell adhesion and migration in vitronectin-rich environments.

    OriginalsprogEngelsk
    TidsskriftJournal of Molecular Biology
    Vol/bind427
    Udgave nummer6B
    Sider (fra-til)1389-1403
    Antal sider15
    ISSN0022-2836
    DOI
    StatusUdgivet - 27 mar. 2015

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