White Stephen E, Schwartze Tristin A, Mukundan Ananya, Schoenherr Christina, Singh Shashi P, van Dinther Maarten, Cunningham Kyle T, White Madeleine P J, Campion Tiffany, Pritchard John, Hinck Cynthia S, Ten Dijke Peter, Inman Gareth J, Maizels Rick M, Hinck Andrew P
Department of Structural Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Ten63 Therapeutics, Durham, NC, USA.
Nat Commun. 2025 Feb 21;16(1):1847. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56954-z.
TGM6 is a natural antagonist of mammalian TGF-β signaling produced by the murine helminth parasite Heligmosomoides polygyrus. It differs from the previously described agonist, TGM1 (TGF-β Mimic-1), in that it lacks domains 1/2 that bind TGFBR1. It nonetheless retains TGFBR2 binding through domain 3 and potently inhibits TGF-β signaling in fibroblasts and epithelial cells, but does not inhibit TGF-β signaling in T cells, consistent with divergent domains 4/5 and an altered co-receptor binding preference. The crystal structure of TGM6 bound to TGFBR2 reveals an interface remarkably similar to that of TGF-β with TGFBR2. Thus, TGM6 has adapted its structure to mimic TGF-β, while engaging a distinct co-receptor to direct antagonism to fibroblasts and epithelial cells. The co-expression of TGM6, along with immunosuppressive TGMs that activate the TGF-β pathway, may minimize fibrotic damage to the host as the parasite progresses through its life cycle from the intestinal lumen to submucosa and back again. The co-receptor-dependent targeting of TGFBR2 by the parasite provides a template for the development of therapies for targeting the cancer- and fibrosis-promoting activities of the TGF-βs in humans.
TGM6是由鼠类蠕虫寄生虫多房棘球绦虫产生的哺乳动物TGF-β信号通路的天然拮抗剂。它与先前描述的激动剂TGM1(TGF-β模拟物-1)不同,因为它缺乏与TGFBR1结合的结构域1/2。尽管如此,它通过结构域3保留了与TGFBR2的结合,并能有效抑制成纤维细胞和上皮细胞中的TGF-β信号通路,但不抑制T细胞中的TGF-β信号通路,这与不同的结构域4/5和改变的共受体结合偏好一致。与TGFBR2结合的TGM6的晶体结构显示出与TGF-β和TGFBR2的界面非常相似。因此,TGM6调整了其结构以模拟TGF-β,同时结合一种独特的共受体以直接拮抗成纤维细胞和上皮细胞。随着寄生虫在其从肠腔到粘膜下层再返回的生命周期中进展,TGM6与激活TGF-β途径的免疫抑制性TGM的共表达可能会将对宿主的纤维化损伤降至最低。寄生虫对TGFBR2的共受体依赖性靶向作用为开发针对人类中TGF-β促进癌症和纤维化活性的疗法提供了一个模板。