Alessandro Barducci, Philippe Barthe, Albane le Maire, Valérie Vivat, Christine Ebel, William Bourguet, Pierre Germain, Frédéric Allemand, Tiago N. Cordeiro, Rémy Bailly, Pau Bernadó, Abdel Boulahtouf, Nathalie Sibille, Centre de Biochimie Structurale [Montpellier] (CBS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Institut de recherche en cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM - U896 Inserm - UM1), CRLCC Val d'Aurelle - Paul Lamarque-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université Montpellier 1 (UM1), NovAliX, Institut de biologie structurale (IBS - UMR 5075 ), Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire de Grenoble (IRIG), Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Montpellier 1 (UM1)-CRLCC Val d'Aurelle - Paul Lamarque-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université de Montpellier (UM), Sibille, Nathalie, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM - U1194 Inserm - UM), CRLCC Val d'Aurelle - Paul Lamarque-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université de Montpellier (UM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire de Grenoble (IRIG), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), and ANR-17-CE11-0022,GPCteR,Mécanismes moléculaires des régions C-terminales désordonnées et fonctionnelles des RCPG et impact sur les voies de la signalisation cellulaire dépendantes de l'arrestine(2017)
The retinoic acid receptors (RARs) form heterodimers with retinoid X receptors (RXRs) and control gene transcription in response to ligand binding and via allosteric activation of the C-termini helix (helix H12) of its ligand-binding domain. Herein we show that in the absence of ligand, helices H12 of RXR and RAR are disordered. The selective RAR agonist, Am580, induces folding of H12, whereas in the presence of the inverse agonist BMS493, H12 stays mostly disordered. These results substantiate a link between the structural dynamics of H12 and RXR/RAR heterodimer biological functions, and highlight disordered-to-order transition as an essential mechanism for retinoic acid mediated regulation. Unliganded RAR exerts a strong repressive activity allowed by the recruitment of transcriptional corepressors and establishment of a corepressor complex in the promoter region of target genes. The human regulatory complex of the RARα bound to the full-length interaction domain of the corepressor N-CoR was studied by integrating several experimental (SAXS, X-ray crystallography, NMR, CD, AUC) and computational data. Unexpectedly, we found that, while mainly intrinsically disordered, the N-CoR presents partially evolutionary conserved structured regions that are involved in transient intramolecular contacts. In the presence of RXR/RAR, we show that N-CoR exploits its multivalency to form a multi-site complex that diplays an equilibrium between different conformational states. This conformational equilibrium is modulated by cognate ligands, RAR point mutation and RXR H12 deletion. Now, we can state that, in addition to NR conformation and ligand-induced allosteric changes, intrinsic disorder is substantially embedded in the synergetic regulation of RXR/RAR activity and its resulting abilities to communicate with the intracellular components.