Tavanti Francesco, Brancolini Giorgia, Perris Roberto
COMT - Centre for Molecular and Translational Oncology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Department of Chemical and Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Front Mol Biosci. 2025 Mar 25;12:1549177. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1549177. eCollection 2025.
Nerve-Glial Antigen 2/Chondroitin Sulphate Proteoglycan 4 (NG2/CSPG4) is the largest membrane-intercalated cell surface component of the human proteome known to date. NG2/CSPG4 is endowed with the capability of engaging a myriad of molecular interactions and exert co-receptor functions, of which primary ones are sequestering of growth factors and the anchoring of cells to the extracellular matrix. However, the nature of the interactive dynamics of the proteoglycan remains veiled because of its conspicuous size and structural complexity. By leveraging on a multi-scale approach, we have pioneered a comprehensive computational analysis of the structural-functional traits of the NG2/CSPG4 ectodomain. The modelling highlights an intricate assembly of β-sheet motifs linked together by flexible loops. Furthermore, our predictions highlight that the previously delineated D1 domain may consistently remain more accessible for molecular interplays with respect to the D2 and D3 domains. Based on these findings, we have simulated the structural mechanism through the proteoglycan may serve as a co-receptor for growth factor FGF-2, showing that NG2/CSPG4 bends towards the receptor FGFR-1 for this growth factor and confirming the previously hypothesized trimeric complex formation promoted by FGF-2 dimers bridging the FGFR-1-proteoglycan interaction. The Chondroitin Sulphate Proteoglycan 4 is a large multi-domain transmembrane protein involved in several biological processes including pathological conditions. Despite its importance, it has never been studied at the atomistic level due to its large size. Here, we employed a multi-scale computer simulations approach to study its three-dimensional structure, its movements and co-receptor properties, showing that it can serve as mediator in the growth factor signaling process.
神经胶质抗原2/硫酸软骨素蛋白聚糖4(NG2/CSPG4)是迄今为止已知的人类蛋白质组中最大的膜插入细胞表面成分。NG2/CSPG4具有参与无数分子相互作用并发挥共受体功能的能力,其主要功能是螯合生长因子以及将细胞锚定到细胞外基质。然而,由于其显著的大小和结构复杂性,蛋白聚糖相互作用动力学的本质仍然不明。通过利用多尺度方法,我们率先对NG2/CSPG4胞外域的结构功能特征进行了全面的计算分析。建模突出了由柔性环连接在一起的β-折叠基序的复杂组装。此外,我们的预测突出显示,相对于D2和D3结构域,先前划定的D1结构域可能始终更容易进行分子相互作用。基于这些发现,我们模拟了蛋白聚糖可能作为生长因子FGF-2共受体的结构机制,表明NG2/CSPG4会朝着该生长因子的受体FGFR-1弯曲,并证实了先前假设的由FGF-2二聚体桥接FGFR-1-蛋白聚糖相互作用促进的三聚体复合物形成。硫酸软骨素蛋白聚糖4是一种大型多结构域跨膜蛋白,参与包括病理状况在内的多种生物过程。尽管其很重要,但由于其尺寸较大,从未在原子水平上进行过研究。在这里,我们采用多尺度计算机模拟方法来研究其三维结构、运动和共受体特性,表明它可以在生长因子信号传导过程中充当介质。