1. Academic Validation
  2. Crystal structure of a truncated epidermal growth factor receptor extracellular domain bound to transforming growth factor alpha

Crystal structure of a truncated epidermal growth factor receptor extracellular domain bound to transforming growth factor alpha

  • Cell. 2002 Sep 20;110(6):763-73. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(02)00940-6.
Thomas P J Garrett 1 Neil M McKern Meizhen Lou Thomas C Elleman Timothy E Adams George O Lovrecz Hong-Jian Zhu Francesca Walker Morry J Frenkel Peter A Hoyne Robert N Jorissen Edouard C Nice Antony W Burgess Colin W Ward
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Post Office Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, 3050, Victoria, Australia. tgarrett@wehi.edu.au
Abstract

We report the crystal structure, at 2.5 A resolution, of a truncated human EGFR ectodomain bound to TGFalpha. TGFalpha interacts with both L1 and L2 domains of EGFR, making many main chain contacts with L1 and interacting with L2 via key conserved residues. The results indicate how EGFR family members can bind a family of highly variable ligands. In the 2:2 TGFalpha:sEGFR501 complex, each ligand interacts with only one receptor molecule. There are two types of dimers in the asymmetric unit: a head-to-head dimer involving contacts between the L1 and L2 domains and a back-to-back dimer dominated by interactions between the CR1 domains of each receptor. Based on sequence conservation, buried surface area, and mutagenesis experiments, the back-to-back dimer is favored to be biologically relevant.

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