Genetically encoded intrabody sensors illuminate structural and functional diversity in GPCR-β-arrestin complexes

Interaction of β-arrestins (βarrs) upon agonist-stimulation is a hallmark of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) resulting in receptor desensitization, endocytosis and signaling. Although overall functional roles of βarrs are typically believed to be conserved across different receptors, emerging data now clearly unveils receptor-specific functional contribution of βarrs. The underlying mechanism however remains mostly speculative and represents a key missing link in our current understanding of GPCR signaling and regulatory paradigms. Here, we develop synthetic intrabody-based conformational sensors that help us visualize the assembly and trafficking of GPCR-βarr1 complexes in cellular context for a broad set of receptors with spatio-temporal resolution. Surprisingly, these conformational sensors reveal a previously unappreciated level of diversity in GPCR-βarr complexes that extends beyond the current framework of affinity-based classification and phosphorylation-code-based interaction patterns. More importantly, this conformational diversity arising from spatial signature of phosphorylation sites manifests directly in the form of distinct functional outcomes, including even opposite contribution of βarrs in signal-transduction for different receptors. Taken together, these findings uncover that despite an overall similar interaction and trafficking patterns; critical structural and functional differences exist in βarr complexes for different GPCRs that define and fine-tune receptor-specific downstream responses.