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Non-equilibrium strategies enabling ligand specificity by signaling receptors.

Andrew Goetz | Jeremy Barrios | Ralitsa Radostinova Madsen | Purushottam D Dixit
eLife | 2025

Signaling receptors often encounter multiple ligands and have been shown to respond selectively to generate appropriate, context-specific outcomes. At thermal equilibrium, ligand specificity is limited by the relative affinities of ligands for their receptors. Here, we present a non-equilibrium model in which receptors overcome thermodynamic constraints to preferentially signal from specific ligands while suppressing others. In our model, multi-site phosphorylation and active receptor degradation act in concert to regulate ligand specificity, with receptor degradation, a common motif in eukaryotes, providing a previously under-appreciated layer of control. Here, ligand-bound receptors undergo sequential phosphorylation, with progression restarted by ligand unbinding or receptor turnover. High-affinity complexes are kinetically sorted toward degradation-prone states, while low-affinity complexes are sorted toward inactivated states, both limiting signaling. As a result, network activity is maximized for ligands with intermediate affinities. This mechanism explains paradoxical experimental observations in receptor tyrosine kinase signaling, including non-monotonic dependence of signaling output on ligand affinity and kinase activity. Given the ubiquity of multi-site phosphorylation and ligand-induced degradation across signaling receptors, we propose that kinetic sorting may be a general non-equilibrium ligand-discrimination strategy used by multiple signaling receptors.

Pubmed ID: 41160435

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Associated grants

  • Agency: Wellcome,
    Id: Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship 220464/Z/20/Z
  • Agency: NIGMS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R35 GM142547
  • Agency: UK Research and Innovation,
    Id: MR/Y017439/1
  • Agency: NIGMS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R35GM142547
  • Agency: Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom

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National Institute of General Medical Sciences (tool)

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NIGMS supports basic biomedical research that is not targeted to specific diseases. NIGMS funds studies on genes, proteins, and cells, as well as on fundamental processes like communication within and between cells, how our bodies use energy, and how we respond to medicines. The results of this research increase our understanding of life and lay the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. NIGMS also supports research training programs that produce the next generation of biomedical scientists, and it has special programs to encourage underrepresented minorities to pursue biomedical research careers. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) primarily supports research that lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. The Institute's research training programs help provide the next generation of scientists. Each year, NIGMS-supported scientists make many advances in understanding fundamental life processes. In the course of answering basic research questions, these investigators increase our knowledge about the mechanisms and pathways involved in certain diseases. Institute grantees also develop important new tools and techniques, some of which have medical applications. In recognition of the significance of their work, a number of NIGMS grantees have received the Nobel Prize and other high scientific honors. At any given time, NIGMS supports approximately 4,700 research grants—approximately 11 percent of the grants funded by NIH as a whole. NIGMS also supports approximately 26 percent of the trainees who receive assistance from NIH. NIGMS also supports approximately 25% of the trainees who receive assistance from NIH. The Institute places great emphasis on supporting investigator-initiated research grants. It funds a limited number of research center grants in selected fields, including structural genomics, trauma and burn research, and systems biology. In addition, NIGMS supports several important scientific resources, including the NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository and the Protein Data Bank.

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