24A current challenge in the field of life sciences is to decipher, in their native environment, the 25 functional activation of cell surface receptors upon binding of complex ligands. Lack of suitable 26 nanoscopic methods has hampered our ability to meet this challenge in an experimental 27 manner. Here, we use for the first time the interplay between atomic force microscopy, steered 28 molecular dynamics and functional assays to elucidate the complex ligand-binding mechanism 29 of C5a with the human G protein-coupled C5a receptor (C5aR). We have identified two 30 independent binding sites acting in concert where the N-terminal C5aR serves as kinetic trap 31 and the transmembrane domain as functional site. Our results corroborate the two-site binding 32 model and clearly identify a cooperative effect between two binding sites within the C5aR. We 33 anticipate that our methodology could be used for development and design of new therapeutic 34 agents to negatively modulate C5aR activity.
35Introduction 36 The complement C5a anaphylatoxin elicits a variety of immunological responses in vivo (Guo 37 and Ward, 2005), such as the stimulated production of pro-inflammatory cytokine by binding 38 to its cognate cell surface receptor, the G-protein-coupled receptor C5a anaphylatoxin 39 chemotactic receptor 1 (C5aR). This interaction has been a topic of interest in the last couple 40 of decades due to its relevance in several inflammatory pathologies, such as asthma, arthritis, 41 sepsis and more recently Alzheimer's disease and cancer (Ward, 2004; Woodruff, Nandakumar 42 et al., 2011; Klos, Wende et al., 2013). However, the binding mechanism of the C5a ligand to 43 C5aR remains poorly understood at the molecular level hampering the development of new 44 therapeutic agents (Monk, Scola et al., 2007; Klos, Wende et al., 2013). A two-site binding 45 mechanism has been suggested, with the C5a rigid core interacting with both the N-terminus 46 and the second extracellular loop of the receptor (called binding site (BS)) (Siciliano, Rollins et 47 al., 1994), and the C5a flexible C-terminal fragment interacting with the cavity formed by the 48 seven transmembrane (7-TM) helices and involved in the functional activation of C5aR (called 49 effector site (ES)). On one hand, the main interactions at the BS occur between C5aR sulfonated 50 tyrosine residues (Y11 and Y14) and C5a residues R40, R37 and possibly H15 (Siciliano, Rollins 51 et al., 1994; Farzan, Schnitzler et al., 2001; Huber-Lang, Sarma et al., 2003). On the other hand, 52 the C5a R74 is pointed out as a critical residue in the binding to the ES (Siciliano, Rollins et al., 53 1994; Huber-Lang, Sarma et al., 2003). However, given the absence of the structure of the C5a-54 C5aR complex, these interactions have never been directly confirmed. In addition, clear and 55 direct evidence of how these two binding sites could act in concert is missing. Understanding 56 this process is likely to illuminate the binding paradigm common to members of the ...