New Horizons on Molecular Pharmacology Applied to Drug Discovery: When Resonance Overcomes Radioligand Binding
- PMID: 28183248
- DOI: 10.2174/1874471010666170208152420
New Horizons on Molecular Pharmacology Applied to Drug Discovery: When Resonance Overcomes Radioligand Binding
Abstract
One of the cornerstones of rational drug development is the measurement of molecular parameters derived from ligand-receptor interaction, which guides therapeutic windows definition. Over the last decades, radioligand binding has provided valuable contributions in this field as key method for such purposes. However, its limitations spurred the development of more exquisite techniques for determining such parameters. For instance, safety risks related to radioactivity waste, expensive and controlled disposal of radioisotopes, radiotracer separation-dependence for affinity analysis, and one-site mathematical models-based fitting of data make radioligand binding a suboptimal approach in providing measures of actual affinity conformations from ligands and G proteincoupled receptors (GPCR). Current advances on high-throughput screening (HTS) assays have markedly extended the options of sparing sensitive ways for monitoring ligand affinity. The advent of the novel bioluminescent donor NanoLuc luciferase (Nluc), engineered from Oplophorus gracilirostris luciferase, allowed fitting bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) for monitoring ligand binding. Such novel approach named Nluc-based BRET (NanoBRET) binding assay consists of a real-time homogeneous proximity assay that overcomes radioligand binding limitations but ensures the quality in affinity measurements. Here, we cover the main advantages of NanoBRET protocol and the undesirable drawbacks of radioligand binding as molecular methods that span pharmacological toolbox applied to Drug Discovery. Also, we provide a novel perspective for the application of NanoBRET technology in affinity assays for multiple-state binding mechanisms involving oligomerization and/or functional biased selectivity. This new angle was proposed based on specific biophysical criteria required for the real-time homogeneity assigned to the proximity NanoBRET protocol.
Keywords: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR); NanoLuc luciferase (Nluc); Nluc-based BRET (NanoBRET); bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET); drug discovery; ligand binding affinity; radioligand binding assay; real-time proximity assays.
Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.
Similar articles
-
NanoBRET: The Bright Future of Proximity-Based Assays.Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2019 Mar 26;7:56. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2019.00056. eCollection 2019. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2019. PMID: 30972335 Free PMC article. Review.
-
An Integrated Approach toward NanoBRET Tracers for Analysis of GPCR Ligand Engagement.Molecules. 2021 May 12;26(10):2857. doi: 10.3390/molecules26102857. Molecules. 2021. PMID: 34065854 Free PMC article.
-
NanoBRET ligand binding at a GPCR under endogenous promotion facilitated by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing.Cell Signal. 2019 Feb;54:27-34. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2018.11.018. Epub 2018 Nov 22. Cell Signal. 2019. PMID: 30471466
-
A NanoBRET-Based Binding Assay for Smoothened Allows Real-time Analysis of Ligand Binding and Distinction of Two Binding Sites for BODIPY-cyclopamine.Mol Pharmacol. 2020 Jan;97(1):23-34. doi: 10.1124/mol.119.118158. Epub 2019 Nov 9. Mol Pharmacol. 2020. PMID: 31707356
-
Technology combination to address GPCR allosteric modulator drug-discovery pitfalls.Drug Discov Today Technol. 2013 Summer;10(2):e261-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ddtec.2012.09.008. Drug Discov Today Technol. 2013. PMID: 24050277 Review.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources