Structural basis of species-selective antagonist binding to the succinate receptor

The tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate succinate is involved in metabolic processes and plays a crucial role in the homeostasis of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species¹. The receptor responsible for succinate signalling, SUCNR1 (also known as GPR91), is a member of the G-protein-coupled-receptor family² and links succinate signalling to renin-induced hypertension, retinal angiogenesis and inflammation^3-5. Because SUCNR1 senses succinate as an immunological danger signal⁶-which has relevance for diseases including ulcerative colitis, liver fibrosis⁷, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis^3,8-it is of interest as a therapeutic target. Here we report the high-resolution crystal structure of rat SUCNR1 in complex with an intracellular binding nanobody in the inactive conformation. Structure-based mutagenesis and radioligand-binding studies, in conjunction with molecular modelling, identified key residues for species-selective antagonist binding and enabled the determination of the high-resolution crystal structure of a humanized rat SUCNR1 in complex with a high-affinity, human-selective antagonist denoted NF-56-EJ40. We anticipate that these structural insights into the architecture of the succinate receptor and its antagonist selectivity will enable structure-based drug discovery and will further help to elucidate the function of SUCNR1 in vitro and in vivo.