The EphB2 receptor uses homotypic, head-to-tail interactions within its ectodomain as an autoinhibitory control mechanism Journal Article


Authors: Xu, Y.; Robev, D.; Saha, N.; Wang, B.; Dalva, M. B.; Xu, K.; Himanen, J. P.; Nikolov, D. B.
Article Title: The EphB2 receptor uses homotypic, head-to-tail interactions within its ectodomain as an autoinhibitory control mechanism
Abstract: The Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their ephrin ligands direct axon pathfinding and neuronal cell migration, as well as mediate many other cell–cell communication events. Their dysfunctional signaling has been shown to lead to various diseases, including cancer. The Ephs and ephrins both localize to the plasma membrane and, upon cell–cell contact, form extensive signaling assemblies at the contact sites. The Ephs and the ephrins are divided into A and B subclasses based on their sequence conservation and affinities for each other. The molecular details of Eph–ephrin recognition have been previously revealed and it has been documented that ephrin binding induces higher-order Eph assemblies, which are essential for full biological activity, via multiple, distinct Eph–Eph interfaces. One Eph–Eph interface type is characterized by a homotypic, head-to-tail interaction between the ligand-binding and the fibronectin domains of two adjacent Eph molecules. While the previous Eph ectodomain structural studies were focused on A class receptors, we now report the crystal structure of the full ectodomain of EphB2, revealing distinct and unique head-to-tail receptor–receptor interactions. The EphB2 structure and structure-based mutagenesis document that EphB2 uses the head-to-tail interactions as a novel autoinhibitory control mechanism for regulating downstream signaling and that these interactions can be modulated by posttranslational modifications. © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords: eph receptors; x-ray crystallography; kinase activation; ligand-binding domain; receptor clusters; fibronectin type iii domain; protein–protein interfaces; receptor tyrosine kinases (rtks)
Journal Title: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume: 22
Issue: 19
ISSN: 1422-0067
Publisher: MDPI  
Date Published: 2021-10-01
Start Page: 10473
Language: English
DOI: 10.3390/ijms221910473
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC8508685
PUBMED: 34638814
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Dimitar B Nikolov
    86 Nikolov
  2. Juha P Himanen
    50 Himanen
  3. Kai Xu
    21 Xu
  4. Nayanendu Saha
    23 Saha
  5. Dorothea Dimitrova Robev
    16 Robev