Synthetic Nanobodies As Angiotensin Receptor Blockers
Synthetic nanobodies as angiotensin receptor blockers Conor McMahona,1, Dean P. Stausb,c,1, Laura M. Winglerb,c,1,2, Jialu Wangc, Meredith A. Skibaa, Matthias Elgetid,e, Wayne L. Hubbelld,e, Howard A. Rockmanc,f, Andrew C. Krusea,3, and Robert J. Lefkowitzb,c,g,3 aDepartment of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; bHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710; cDepartment of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710; dJules Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; eDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; fDepartment of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710; and gDepartment of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710 Edited by K. Christopher Garcia, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and approved July 13, 2020 (received for review May 6, 2020) There is considerable interest in developing antibodies as functional a need for more broadly applicable methodologies to discover modulators of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling for both antibody fragments explicitly directed to the membrane- therapeutic and research applications. However, there are few an- embedded domains with limited surface exposure. tibody ligands targeting GPCRs outside of the chemokine receptor The angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) is a GPCR that group. GPCRs are challenging targets for conventional antibody dis- exemplifies the opportunities and the challenges surrounding an- covery methods, as many are highly conserved across species, are tibody drug development. Both the endogenous peptide agonist of biochemically unstable upon purification, and possess deeply buried the AT1R (angiotensin II) and small-molecule inhibitors (angio- ligand-binding sites.
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