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  • The DDRs have also been shown to

    2019-09-03

    The DDRs have also been shown to be regulators of certain immunological functions. DDR1 is expressed in stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear HBX 41108 kinase (Kamohara et al., 2001) and on activated T cells (Chetoui et al., 2011, Hachehouche et al., 2010, Kamohara et al., 2001). DDR1 can mediate cell migration of monocytic cells and T cells in three-dimensional (3D) collagen matrices (Hachehouche et al., 2010, Kamohara et al., 2001). Integrins, which are the other key mediators of leukocyte interactions with tissue ECM molecules, are not involved in the migration of leukocytes in 3D collagen matrices (Friedl and Weigelin, 2008). A similar role was found for DDR2, which is expressed on circulating human neutrophils (Afonso et al., 2013). Neutrophil DDR2 is required for migration in 3D collagen matrices and promotes chemotaxis, by triggering MMP-8 activity and the generation of chemotactic collagen peptides (Afonso et al., 2013). Thus, the DDRs seem to be important players in immune responses, which depend on the effective migration of activated leukocytes into infectious or inflammatory tissue sites.
    DDR Structure and Ligand Interactions
    Regulation of DDR Activity
    DDR Functions During Development Both DDRs play key roles in development, with DDR1 important in organogenesis and DDR2 in bone growth. As mentioned above, DDR1 expression is mainly found in epithelial cells, in particular in the kidney, lung, gastrointestinal tract, and brain, while DDR2 is found in cells of connective tissue (Alves et al., 1995), including fibroblasts of different origins and bone cells such as chondrocytes and osteoblasts.
    Signaling by DDRs
    DDRs as Potential Therapeutic Targets in Disease Both DDRs have been linked to a wide variety of human disorders, ranging from fibrotic disorders of different organs, atherosclerosis, arthritis, and many types of cancers. Targeted deletion of DDRs in mice and the use of a number of mouse models of chronic human diseases have helped to unravel DDR functions in disease progression. The DDRs usually play positive roles in pathologies, and the use of DDR inhibitors is therefore an attractive therapeutic approach, in particular for diseases that currently have limited treatment options. That the DDRs are considered promising targets for drug discovery is reflected by a sharp increase in research in this area. Several small molecule kinase inhibitors that were originally developed to target the activity of the Breakpoint Cluster Region-Abelson kinase for the use in myelogenous leukemia, namely imatinib, nilotinib, and dasatinib, also potently inhibit DDR activity (Day et al., 2008, Rix et al., 2007). However, these drugs have a broad specificity and are also active against a number of additional kinases. Recently, two groups reported optimized orally bioavailable DDR1 kinase inhibitors, with selectivity over DDR2 (Gao et al., 2013, Kim et al., 2013). For DDR2, there are currently no such compounds described but two naturally occurring products, actinomycin D and a product from a marine-derived Bacillus hunanensis strain, are potent DDR2 inhibitors (Hu et al., 2013, Siddiqui et al., 2009). However, whether these compounds bind directly to DDR2, and if so, to which structural region, as well as other details of their mechanism of action are currently unknown.
    Conclusions Since collagens were first identified as ligands for the DDRs, we have gained a good understanding of the structural basis of ligand recognition. We also have gained many insights into the in vivo functions of DDRs and the roles they play in development and disease. However, many mysteries remain about some of the most fundamental DDR characteristics and compared with most RTK families the DDRs remain under-researched. As outlined above, both DDRs are potential drug targets for a number of human diseases with currently limited treatment options. Successful drug development will require a much deeper understanding of basic DDR biology. Unresolved issues start with a poor understanding of the nature of the DDR ligand in vivo. Can collagen fibers, which are abundant in many tissues, activate the DDRs, or is DDR activation only triggered by isolated collagen triple helices such as might be present when tissues undergo remodeling and repair? Do different ligands (or the physical state of collagen) induce different signaling pathways? If collagen fibers trigger DDR activation, how is unwanted DDR activation controlled? Furthermore, despite crystallographic characterization of the DDR–collagen interaction, we lack insight into the molecular mechanism of transmembrane signaling. How is the information of ligand binding by the DS domains transmitted across the cell membrane to induce kinase activation? What is the receptor stoichiometry on cellular membranes? Major questions also remain about the mechanism underlying the slow activation kinetics and how cells interpret sustained receptor activation. How is DDR signaling switched off? Are the receptors phosphorylated for sustained periods in vivo?