Abstract
AbstractWntless (WLS), an evolutionarily conserved multi-pass transmembrane protein, is essential for secretion of Wnt proteins. Wnt-triggered signaling pathways control many crucial life events, whereas aberrant Wnt signaling is tightly associated with many human diseases including cancers. Here, we report the cryo-EM structure of human WLS in complex with Wnt3a, the most widely studied Wnt, at 2.2 Å resolution. The transmembrane domain of WLS bears a GPCR fold, with a conserved core cavity and a lateral opening. Wnt3a interacts with WLS at multiple interfaces, with the lipid moiety on Wnt3a traversing a hydrophobic tunnel of WLS transmembrane domain and inserting into membrane. A β-hairpin of Wnt3a containing the conserved palmitoleoylation site interacts with WLS extensively, which is crucial for WLS-mediated Wnt secretion. The flexibility of the Wnt3a loop/hairpin regions involved in the multiple binding sites indicates induced fit might happen when Wnts are bound to different binding partners. Our findings provide important insights into the molecular mechanism of Wnt palmitoleoylation, secretion and signaling.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
General Physics and Astronomy,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Chemistry
Cited by
24 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献