Elucidation of the molecular interactions that enable stable assembly and structural diversity in multicomponent immune receptors

Multi-component immune receptors are essential complexes in which distinct ligand-recognition and signaling subunits are held together by interactions between acidic and basic residues of their transmembrane helices. A 2-to-1 acidic to basic motif in the transmembrane domains of the subunits is necessary and sufficient to assemble these receptor complexes. Here, we study a prototype for these receptors, a DAP12-NKG2C 2:1 heterotrimeric complex, in which the two DAP12 subunits each contribute a single transmembrane Asp residue, and the NKG2C subunit contributes a Lys to form the complex. DAP12 can also associate with 20 other subunits using a similar motif. Here we use molecular dynamics simulations to understand the basis for the high affinity and diversity of interactions in this group of receptors. Simulations of the transmembrane helices with differing protonation states of the Asp-Asp-Lys triad identified a structurally stable interaction in which a singly protonated Asp-Asp pair forms a hydrogen-bonded carboxyl-carboxylate clamp that clasps onto a charged Lys sidechain. This polar motif was also supported by density functional theory and a Protein Data Bank-wide search. In contrast, the helices are dynamic at sites distal to the stable carboxyl-carboxylate clamp motif. Such a locally stable but globally dynamic structure is well-suited to accommodate the sequence and structural variations in the transmembrane helices of multi-component receptors, which mix and match subunits to create combinatorial functional diversity from a limited number of subunits. It also supports a signaling mechanism based on multi-subunit clustering rather than propagation of rigid conformational changes through the membrane. SIGNIFICANCEReceptors that separate ligand recognition and intracellular signaling into separate protein subunits are ubiquitous in immunity. These subunits mix and match to create combinatorial functional diversity. The transmembrane domains of these receptors assemble through the interaction between two acidic and one basic residue on different helices. Using computational methods to study the DAP12-NKG2C receptor complex we identified a polar motif in which a singly protonated Asp-Asp pair forms a carboxyl-carboxylate clamp that clasps a charged Lys sidechain in the membrane. This local interaction allows dynamic variations in other regions of the helices that tolerate sequence diversity of the interacting subunits in this class of receptors, which signal through multi-subunit clustering rather than propagation of rigid conformational changes through the membrane.