Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24788775›Full record

ArticlePloS one2014

Mapping the homodimer interface of an optimized, artificial, transmembrane protein activator of the human erythropoietin receptor.

Emily B Cohen, Susan J Jun, Zachary Bears, Francisco N Barrera, Miriam Alonso, Donald M Engelman, Daniel DiMaio

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Emily B CohenDepartment of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
Susan J JunDepartment of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
Zachary BearsDepartment of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
Francisco N BarreraDepartment of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America.
Miriam AlonsoDepartment of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
Donald M EngelmanDepartment of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America; Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
Daniel DiMaioDepartment of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America; Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America; Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America; Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
Yale University · USUniversity of Tennessee at Knoxville · USYale Cancer Center · US

Funding

CELL TRANSFORMATION BY BOVINE PAPILLOMAVIRUSR01CA037157 · NCI · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI DIMAIO, DANIEL C. · 1985 to 2019
$9.9M
Training Program in Investigative HepatologyT32DK007356 · NIDDK · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI MICHAEL H NATHANSON · 1986 to 2026
$7.4M
Predoctoral Training Program in VirologyT32AI055403 · NIAID · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI KUMAR, PRITI, MOTHES, WALTHER H · 2003 to 2024
$3.6M
Mechanism of novel transmembrane proteins that induce erythroid differentiationF31CA168012 · NCI · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI COHEN, EMILY BARBARA · 2013 to 2014
$33k
CELL TRANSFORMATION BY BOVINE PAPILLOMAVIRUSR37CA037157 · NCI · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI DIMAIO, DANIEL · 1992 to 1999
–
NCI NIH HHS CA0168012NCI NIH HHS CA037157NCI NIH HHS F31 CA168012NCI NIH HHS R01 CA037157NCI NIH HHS R37 CA037157NIAID NIH HHS AI055403NIAID NIH HHS T32 AI055403NIDDK NIH HHS DK007356NIDDK NIH HHS T32 DK007356
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Transmembrane proteins constitute a large fraction of cellular proteins, and specific interactions involving membrane-spanning protein segments play an important role in protein oligomerization, folding, and function. We previously isolated an artificial, dimeric, 44-amino acid transmembrane protein that activates the human erythropoietin receptor (hEPOR) in trans. This artificial protein supports limited erythroid differentiation of primary human hematopoietic progenitor cells in vitro, even though it does not resemble erythropoietin, the natural ligand of this receptor. Here, we used a directed-evolution approach to explore the structural basis for the ability of transmembrane proteins to activate the hEPOR. A library that expresses thousands of mutants of the transmembrane activator was screened for variants that were more active than the original isolate at inducing growth factor independence in mouse cells expressing the hEPOR. The most active mutant, EBC5-16, supports erythroid differentiation in human cells with activity approaching that of EPO, as assessed by cell-surface expression of glycophorin A, a late-stage marker of erythroid differentiation. EBC5-16 contains a single isoleucine to serine substitution at position 25, which increases its ability to form dimers. Genetic studies confirmed the importance of dimerization for activity and identified the residues constituting the homodimer interface of EBC5-16. The interface requires a GxxxG dimer packing motif and a small amino acid at position 25 for maximal activity, implying that tight packing of the EBC5-16 dimer is a crucial determinant of activity. These experiments identified an artificial protein that causes robust activation of its target in a natural host cell, demonstrated the importance of dimerization of this protein for engagement of the hEPOR, and provided the framework for future structure-function studies of this novel mechanism of receptor activation.

Indexed as

Amino Acid SequenceCell DifferentiationDimerizationHEK293 CellsHumansMembrane ProteinsMolecular Sequence DataReceptors, ErythropoietinSequence Homology, Amino AcidMembrane ProteinsReceptors, Erythropoietin

Identifiers

PMID24788775
PMCPMC4005772
OpenAlexW2022939509

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.