Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is an essential glycoprotein hormone for human reproduction, which functions are mediated by a G protein-coupled receptor, FSHR. Aberrant FSH-FSHR signaling causes infertility and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Here we report cryo-EM structures of FSHR in both inactive and active states, with the active structure bound to FSH and an allosteric agonist compound 21 f. The structures of FSHR are similar to other glycoprotein hormone receptors, highlighting a conserved activation mechanism of hormone-induced receptor activation. Compound 21 f formed extensive interactions with the TMD to directly activate FSHR. Importantly, the unique residue H615 7.42 in FSHR plays an essential role in determining FSHR selectivity for various allosteric agonists. Together, our structures provide a molecular basis of FSH and small allosteric agonist-mediated FSHR activation, which could inspire the design of FSHR-targeted drugs for the treatment of infertility and controlled ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization.
Organizational Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 201203, Shanghai, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China.
Department of Biophysics and Department of Pathology of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain-Machine Integration, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Immunity and Inflammatory diseases, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Department of Cardiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Medical Research Center, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
School of medicine, Tsinghua university, Beijing, China.
Tsinghua-Peking Center for life science, Tsinghua university, Beijing, China.
Lingang Laboratory, 200031, Shanghai, China.
School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 201210, Shanghai, China.
Department of Cardiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. shuyangzhang103@nrdrs.org.
Medical Research Center, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. shuyangzhang103@nrdrs.org.
School of medicine, Tsinghua university, Beijing, China. shuyangzhang103@nrdrs.org.
Tsinghua-Peking Center for life science, Tsinghua university, Beijing, China. shuyangzhang103@nrdrs.org.
Department of Biophysics and Department of Pathology of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. zhang_yan@zju.edu.cn.
Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. zhang_yan@zju.edu.cn.
MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain-Machine Integration, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. zhang_yan@zju.edu.cn.
Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Immunity and Inflammatory diseases, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. zhang_yan@zju.edu.cn.
State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 201203, Shanghai, China. eric.xu@simm.ac.cn.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China. eric.xu@simm.ac.cn.
School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 201210, Shanghai, China. eric.xu@simm.ac.cn.
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