Specific receptors for lutropin (luteinizing hormone; LH) and follitropin (follicle-stimulating hormone; FSH) mediate the actions of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and FSH5 on the gonads. Here we report that short independent sequences of the beta-subunit enable hCG to distinguish between the receptors for FSH and LH. Residues between the 11th and 12th cysteines restrict FSH receptor binding; residues between the 10th and 11th cysteines and, to a much lesser extent, residues carboxy-terminal to the 12th cysteine also affect LH receptor binding. CF101-109, an hCG analogue containing hFSH beta residues between the 11th and 12th cysteines, had high affinity for both LH and FSH receptors. Modifications to CF101-109 that reduce binding to either LH or FSH receptors yield gonadotropin analogues having differing ratios of LH:FSH activity. Ligand-binding specificity of the LH receptor is determined by residues encoded by parts of exons 2-4 and 7-9 which prevent hFSH binding but have little effect on hCG binding. FSH receptor specificity is controlled primarily by residues encoded by exons 5 and 6 that prevent hCG binding but have little effect on hFSH binding. These determinants can be interchanged to create receptor analogues that bind hCG and hFSH. Our observations support a model in which distinct negative determinants restrict ligand-receptor interaction. This explains coevolution of binding specificity in families of homologous ligands and their receptors. Natural or designed manipulation of these determinants leads to the 'evolution' of new, specific protein-protein interactions.

We report the cloning of five overlapping cDNAs bearing sequences specific for the human pro alpha 1(I) collagen chain. Poly-A RNA enriched for collagen sequences was purified from normal human fibroblasts and used as template to synthesize double stranded cDNA. The cDNA was inserted into the Eco RI site of pBR 322 by blunt-ending and dG:dC tailing. The clones were screened by colony hybridization using the original RNA population and the resulting five positive clones subjected to restriction endonuclease mapping analysis and DNA sequencing. These overlapping clones cover from residue 247 in the alpha chain to part of the 3' end untranslated region of the pro alpha 1(I) mRNA for a total of 3400 nucleotides.

Nucleotide sequences were determined for two cloned cDNAs encoding for over three-fourths of the pro alpha 1 (I) chain of type I procollagen from man. Comparison with previously published data on amino acid sequences of the alpha 1 (I) chain of type I collagen made it possible to examine mutations in the transcribed products of the gene which have occurred during the evolution of man, calf, rat, mouse, and chick. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences with the corresponding sequences of cDNAs from chick [Fuller, F., & Boedtker, H. (1981) Biochemistry 20, 996] and with cDNAs for the pro alpha 2(I) chain from man [Bernard, M.P., Myers, J. C., Chu, M.-L., Ramirez, F., Eikenberry, E. F., & Prockop, D. J. (1983) Biochemistry 22, 1139] demonstrated that selective pressure during evolution for 250 million or more years acted more strongly on the structure of the pro alpha 1 (I) chain than on the pro alpha 2(I) chain. To improve the reliability of the comparison, the nucleotide sequences were examined with a modification of previous procedures for evaluating mutations in replacement sites and silent sites. The corrected divergence for replacement sites between the alpha 1 (I) chains was 6 +/- 0.8% whereas it was 15 +/- 1.9% for the alpha 2(I) chains. The C-propeptide domain of the pro alpha 1 (I) chain was also highly conserved with a corrected divergence at replacement sites of 5 +/- 0.9%, a value that was not distinguishable from the value previously found for the C-propeptide of the pro alpha 2(I) chain. Therefore, a large part of the structure of both C-propeptides appears to be under selective pressure. Inspection of changes in the C-propeptide of the pro alpha 1 (I) chain suggested that there was a highly conserved region around the carbohydrate attachment site similar to the highly conserved region of 37 amino acids previously found in the C-propeptide of the pro alpha 2(I) chain. Two statistical tests, however, were unable to confirm nonrandom distribution of changes in the C-propeptide of the pro alpha 1(I) chain. The same tests established the presence of a nonrandom distribution in nucleotide changes of the C-propeptide of the pro alpha 2(I) chain. The 3'-noncoding region of the cDNA for pro alpha 1(I) of human type I procollagen showed no homology with the same region in the chick.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The goal of these studies was to devise a model that explains how human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) interacts with lutropin (LH) receptors to elicit a hormone signal. Here we show that alpha-subunit residues near the N terminus, the exposed surface of the cysteine knot, and portions of the first and third loops most distant from the beta-subunit interface were recognized by antibodies that bound to hCG-receptor complexes. These observations were combined with similar data obtained for the beta-subunit (Cosowsky, L., Rao, S.N.V., Macdonald, G.J., Papkoff, H., Campbell, R.K., and Moyle, W.R. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 20011-20019), information on residues of hCG that can be changed without disrupting hormone function, the crystal structure of deglycosylated hCG, and the crystal structure of a leucine-repeat protein to devise a model of hCG-receptor interaction. This model suggest that the extracellular domain of the LH receptor is "U-" or "J"-shaped and makes several contacts with the transmembrane domain. High affinity hormone binding results from interactions between residues in the curved portion of the extracellular domain of the receptor and the groove in the hormone formed by the apposition of the second alpha-subunit loop and the first and third beta-subunit loops. Most of the remainder of the hormone is found in the large space between the arms of the extracellular domain and makes few, if any, additional specific contacts with the receptor needed for high affinity binding. Signal transduction is caused by steric or other influences of the hormone on the distance between the arms of the extracellular domain, an effect augmented by the oligosaccharides. Because the extracellular domain is coupled at multiple sites to the transmembrane domain, the change in conformation of the extracellular domain is relayed to the transmembrane domain and subsequently to the cytoplasmic surface of the plasma membrane. While the model does not require the hormone to contact the transmembrane domain to initiate signal transduction, small portions of both subunits may be near the transmembrane domain and assist in initiating the hormonal signal. This is the first model that is consistent with all known information on the activity of the gonadotropins including the amounts of the hormone that are exposed in the hormone-receptor complex, the apparent lack of specific contacts between much of the hormone and the receptor, and the roles of the oligosaccharides in signal transduction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)