Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), a distant member of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β family, is a secreted protein that circulates as a 25-kDa dimer. In humans, elevated GDF15 correlates with weight loss, and the administration of GDF15 to mice with obesity reduces body weight, at least in part, by decreasing food intake. The mechanisms through which GDF15 reduces body weight remain poorly understood, because the cognate receptor for GDF15 is unknown. Here we show that recombinant GDF15 induces weight loss in mice fed a high-fat diet and in nonhuman primates with spontaneous obesity. Furthermore, we find that GDF15 binds with high affinity to GDNF family receptor α-like (GFRAL), a distant relative of receptors for a distinct class of the TGF-β superfamily ligands. Gfral is expressed in neurons of the area postrema and nucleus of the solitary tract in mice and humans, and genetic deletion of the receptor abrogates the ability of GDF15 to decrease food intake and body weight in mice. In addition, diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance are exacerbated in GFRAL-deficient mice, suggesting a homeostatic role for this receptor in metabolism. Finally, we demonstrate that GDF15-induced cell signaling requires the interaction of GFRAL with the coreceptor RET. Our data identify GFRAL as a new regulator of body weight and as the bona fide receptor mediating the metabolic effects of GDF15, enabling a more comprehensive assessment of GDF15 as a potential pharmacotherapy for the treatment of obesity.

A common strategy to improve the potency of drug candidates is to introduce chemical functionalities, like hydrogen bond donors or acceptors, at positions where they are able to establish strong interactions with the target. However, it is often observed that the added functionalities do not necessarily improve potency even if they form strong hydrogen bonds. Here, we explore the thermodynamic and structural basis for those observations. KNI-10033 is a potent experimental HIV-1 protease inhibitor with picomolar affinity against the wild-type enzyme (K(d) = 13 pm). The potency of the inhibitor is the result of favorable enthalpic (DeltaH = -8.2 kcal/mol) and entropic (-TDeltaS = -6.7 kcal/mol) interactions. The replacement of the thioether group in KNI-10033 by a sulfonyl group (KNI-10075) results in a strong hydrogen bond with the amide of Asp 30B of the HIV-1 protease. This additional hydrogen bond improves the binding enthalpy by 3.9 kcal/mol; however, the enthalpy gain is completely compensated by an entropy loss, resulting in no affinity change. Crystallographic and thermodynamic analysis of the inhibitor/protease complexes indicates that the entropy losses are due to a combination of conformational and solvation effects. These results provide a set of practical guidelines aimed at overcoming enthalpy/entropy compensation and improve binding potency.

Ubiquitin (Ub) and ubiquitin-like (Ubl) modifiers such as SUMO mediate signal transduction through post-translational modification of substrate proteins in pathways that control differentiation, apoptosis, the cell cycle, and responses to stress such as the DNA damage response. In yeast, the proliferating cell nuclear antigen PCNA is modified by ubiquitin in response to DNA damage and by SUMO during S-phase. While Ub-PCNA can signal for recruitment of translesion DNA polymerases, SUMO-PCNA signals for recruitment of the anti-recombinogenic DNA helicase Srs2. It remains unclear how receptors such as Srs2 specifically recognize substrates after conjugation to Ub/Ubls. Here we show through structural, biochemical and functional studies that the Srs2 C-terminal domain harbors tandem receptor motifs that interact independently with PCNA and SUMO and that both motifs are required to specifically recognize SUMO-PCNA. The mechanism presented herein is pertinent to understanding how other receptors specifically recognize Ub/Ubl-modified substrates to facilitate signal transduction.

Drug resistance is a major problem affecting the clinical efficacy of antiretroviral agents, including protease inhibitors, in the treatment of infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)/AIDS. Consequently, the elucidation of the mechanisms by which HIV-1 protease inhibitors maintain antiviral activity in the presence of mutations is critical to the development of superior inhibitors. Tipranavir, a nonpeptidic HIV-1 protease inhibitor, has been recently approved for the treatment of HIV infection. Tipranavir inhibits wild-type protease with high potency (K i ‫؍‬ 19 pM) and demonstrates durable efficacy in the treatment of patients infected with HIV-1 strains containing multiple common mutations associated with resistance. The high potency of tipranavir results from a very large favorable entropy change (؊T⌬S ‫؍‬ ؊14.6 kcal/mol) combined with a favorable, albeit small, enthalpy change (⌬H ‫؍‬ ؊0.7 kcal/mol, 25°C). Characterization of tipranavir binding to wild-type protease, active site mutants I50V and V82F/I84V, the multidrug-resistant mutant L10I/ L33I/M46I/I54V/L63I/V82A/I84V/L90M, and the tipranavir in vitro-selected mutant I13V/V32L/L33F/K45I/ V82L/I84V was performed by isothermal titration calorimetry and crystallography. Thermodynamically, the good response of tipranavir arises from a unique behavior: it compensates for entropic losses by actual enthalpic gains or by sustaining minimal enthalpic losses when facing the mutants. The net result is a small loss in binding affinity. Structurally, tipranavir establishes a very strong hydrogen bond network with invariant regions of the protease, which is maintained with the mutants, including catalytic Asp25 and the backbone of Asp29, Asp30, Gly48 and Ile50. Moreover, tipranavir forms hydrogen bonds directly to Ile50, while all other inhibitors do so by being mediated by a water molecule.