Glucagon Receptor Structure Offers New Opportunities for Type 2 Diabetes Drug Discovery

Activation of the human glucagon receptor (GCGR) by its endogenous ligand glucagon triggers the release of glucose from the liver during fasting, making it a potential drug target for type 2 diabetes. Last year, a group of scientists at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences determined the crystal structure of the full-length GCGR bound to a negative allosteric modulator NNC0640 and an inhibitory antibody mAb1, thus providing for the first time a clear picture of a full-length class B GPCR at high resolution.

Recently, scientists at SIMM determined the crystal structure of GCGR in complex with a glucagon analogue and partial agonist NNC1702. This structure reveals, for the first time, the molecular details of a class B GPCR binding to its peptide ligand at high resolution and unexpectedly discloses the structural complexity that governs receptor activation, thereby greatly expanding our understanding of class B GPCR signal transduction. The study was published in Nature.（The article full text：https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25153）

This study offers some valuable insights into the activation mechanism of GCGR. The most exciting finding is that the linker region connecting the ECD and TMD of the receptor, termed the "stalk," and the first extracellular loop undergo significant conformational changes in their secondary structures in the peptide-bound GCGR structure compared to the previously determined non-peptide-bound structure. This leads to a marked change in the relative orientation between the ECD and TMD of the receptor to accommodate peptide binding and initiate receptor activation.

Furthermore, the stalk may modulate receptor activity by facilitating conformational movements of the receptor TMD. "It is amazing to observe how the stalk region plays such an important role in regulating receptor function, although it only contains 12 amino acids," said SIMM professor Dr. ZHAO Qiang. "This has never been observed in previously solved GPCR structural studies. It significantly deepens our knowledge about class B GPCR signaling mechanisms."

Based on the structure of GCGR-NNC1702 complex, the researchers performed a series of functional studies using techniques such as competitive ligand binding, cell signaling, molecular dynamics simulations and double electron-electron resonance spectroscopy. The results support the GCGR structure and confirm the conformational alterations of the receptor in different functional states.

"The newly solved GCGR structure provides the most accurate template to date for drug design targeting GCGR, which offers new opportunities in drug discovery for treating type 2 diabetes," said team leader and SIMM professor Dr. WU Beili.

In addition to Drs. WU and ZHAO, other notable investigators included Dr. JIANG Hualiang, Dr. WANG Ming-Wei, Dr. YANG Dehua and graduate student ZHANG Haonan (the first author) from SIMM, Dr. Raymond Stevens from the iHuman Institute of ShanghaiTech University, Dr. Steffen Reedtz-Runge and Dr. Jesper Lau from Novo Nordisk, Dr. Oliver Ernst and Dr. Ned Van Eps from University of Toronto, and Dr. Michael Hanson of GPCR Consortium.

The study was funded by Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Science Foundation of China, Shanghai Science and Technology Development Fund, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and the Canada Excellence Research Chairs program.

SOURCE Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences