Thyroid stimulating autoantibody M22 mimics TSH binding to the TSH receptor leucine rich domain: a comparative structural study of protein–protein interactions

The TSH receptor (TSHR) ligands M22 (a thyroid stimulating human monoclonal antibody) and TSH, bind to the concave surface of the leucine rich repeats domain (LRD) of the TSHR and here, we show that M22 mimics closely the binding of TSH. We compared interactions produced by M22 with the TSHR in the M22–TSHR crystal structure (2.55 Å resolution) and produced by TSH with the TSHR in a TSH–TSHR comparative model. The crystal structure of the TSHR and a comparative model of TSH based on the crystal structure of FSH were used as components to build the TSH–TSHR model. This model was built based on the FSH–FSH receptor structure (2.9 Å) and then the structure of the TSHR in the model was replaced by the TSHR crystal structure. The analysis shows that M22 light chain mimics the TSHβ chain in its interaction with TSHR LRD, while M22 heavy chain mimics the interactions of the TSHα chain. The M22–TSHR complex contains a greater number of hydrogen bonds and salt bridges and fewer hydrophobic interactions than the TSH–TSHR complex, consistent with a higher M22 binding affinity. Furthermore, the surface area formed by TSHR residues N208, Q235, R255, and N256 has been identified as a candidate target region for small molecules which might selectively block binding of autoantibodies to the TSHR.