Mapping Tyrosine Kinase Receptor Dimerization to Receptor Expression and Ligand Affinities
1
Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61820, USA
2
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63105, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Processes 2019, 7(5), 288; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7050288
Received: 17 April 2019 / Revised: 7 May 2019 / Accepted: 8 May 2019 / Published: 15 May 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling & Control of Disease States)
Tyrosine kinase receptor (RTK) ligation and dimerization is a key mechanism for translating external cell stimuli into internal signaling events. This process is critical to several key cell and physiological processes, such as in angiogenesis and embryogenesis, among others. While modulating RTK activation is a promising therapeutic target, RTK signaling axes have been shown to involve complicated interactions between ligands and receptors both within and across different protein families. In angiogenesis, for example, several signaling protein families, including vascular endothelial growth factors and platelet-derived growth factors, exhibit significant cross-family interactions that can influence pathway activation. Computational approaches can provide key insight to detangle these signaling pathways but have been limited by the sparse knowledge of these cross-family interactions. Here, we present a framework for studying known and potential non-canonical interactions. We constructed generalized models of RTK ligation and dimerization for systems of two, three and four receptor types and different degrees of cross-family ligation. Across each model, we developed parameter-space maps that fully determine relative pathway activation for any set of ligand-receptor binding constants, ligand concentrations and receptor concentrations. Therefore, our generalized models serve as a powerful reference tool for predicting not only known ligand: Receptor axes but also how unknown interactions could alter signaling dimerization patterns. Accordingly, it will drive the exploration of cross-family interactions and help guide therapeutic developments across processes like cancer and cardiovascular diseases, which depend on RTK-mediated signaling.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Mamer, S.B.; Palasz, A.A.; Imoukhuede, P.I. Mapping Tyrosine Kinase Receptor Dimerization to Receptor Expression and Ligand Affinities. Processes 2019, 7, 288. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7050288
AMA Style
Mamer SB, Palasz AA, Imoukhuede PI. Mapping Tyrosine Kinase Receptor Dimerization to Receptor Expression and Ligand Affinities. Processes. 2019; 7(5):288. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7050288
Chicago/Turabian StyleMamer, Spencer B.; Palasz, Alexandra A.; Imoukhuede, P. I. 2019. "Mapping Tyrosine Kinase Receptor Dimerization to Receptor Expression and Ligand Affinities" Processes 7, no. 5: 288. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7050288
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