Milka Vrecl

Oxyntomodulin Differentially Affects Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor β-Arrestin Recruitment and Signaling through Gα

The glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 receptor is a promising target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, and there is great interest in characterizing the pharmacology of the GLP-1 receptor and its ligands. In the present report, we have applied bioluminescence resonance energy transfer2 assays to measure agonist-induced recruitment of βarrestins and G-protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK) 2 to the GLP-1 receptor in addition to traditional measurements of second messenger generation. The peptide hormone oxyntomodulin is described in the literature as a full agonist on the glucagon and GLP-1 receptors. Surprisingly, despite being full agonists in GLP-1 receptor-mediated cAMP accumulation, oxyntomodulin and glucagon were observed to be partial agonists in recruiting βarrestins and GRK2 to the GLP-1 receptor. We suggest that oxyntomodulin and glucagon are biased ligands on the GLP-1 receptor.

Internalization kinetics of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor.

This study quantified the agonist-induced endocytotic and recycling events of the mammalian gonadotropin releasing hormone receptor (GnRH-R) and investigated the role of the intracellular carboxyl (C)-terminal tail in regulating agonist-induced receptor internalization kinetics. The rate of internalization for the rat GnRH-R was found to be exceptionally low when compared with G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) which possess a cytoplasmic C-terminal tail (thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor (TRH-R), catfish GnRH-R (cfGnRH-R) and GnRH/TRH-R chimeric receptor). These data provide evidence that the presence of a functional intracellular cytoplasmic C-terminal tail is essential for rapid internalization of the studied GPCRs.

Characterization of G-Protein Coupled Receptor Kinase Interaction with the Neurokinin-1 Receptor Using Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer

To analyze the interaction between the neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor and G-protein coupled receptor kinases (GRKs), we performed bioluminescence resonance energy transfer2 (BRET2) measurements between the family A NK-1 receptor and GRK2 and GRK5 as well as their respective kinase-inactive mutants. We observed agonist induced interaction of both GRK5 and GRK2 with the activated NK-1 receptor. In saturation experiments, we observed GRK5 to interact with the activated receptor in a monophasic manner while GRK2 interacted in a biphasic manner with the low affinity phase corresponding to receptor affinity for GRK5. Agonist induced GRK5 interaction with the receptor was dependent on intact kinase-activity, whereas the high affinity phase of GRK2 interaction was independent of kinase activity. We were surprised to find that the BRET2 saturation experiments indicated that before receptor activation, the full-length NK-1 receptor, but not a functional C-terminal tail-truncated receptor, is preassociated with GRK5 in a relatively low-affinity state. We demonstrate that GRK5 can compete for agonist induced GRK2 interaction with the NK-1 receptor, whereas GRK2 does not compete for receptor interaction with GRK5. We suggest that GRK5 is preassociated with the NK-1 receptor and that GRK5, rather than GRK2, is a key player in competitive regulation of GRK subtype specific interaction with the NK-1 receptor.

Quantitative Assessment of Seven Transmembrane Receptors (7TMRs) Oligomerization by Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) Technology

Seven transmembrane receptors (7TMRs; also designated as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs)) form the largest and evolutionarily well conserved family of cell-surface receptors, with more than 800 members identified in the human genome. 7TMRs are the targets both for a plethora of endogenous ligands (e.g. peptides, glycoproteins, lipids, amino acids, nucleotides, neurotransmitters, odorants, ions, and photons) and therapeutic drugs and transduce extracellular stimuli into intracellular responses mainly via coupling to guanine nucleotide binding proteins (G-proteins) (McGraw & Liggett, 2006).

The Conserved Arginine Cluster in the Insert of the Third Cytoplasmic Loop of the Long Form of the D2 Dopamine Receptor (D2L-R) Acts as an Intracellular Retention Signal

This study examined whether the conserved arginine cluster present within the 29-amino acid insert of the long form of the D2 dopamine receptor (D2L-R) confers its predominant intracellular localization. We hypothesized that the conserved arginine cluster (RRR) located within the insert could act as an RXR-type endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention signal. Arginine residues (R) within the cluster at positions 267, 268, and 269 were charge-reserved to glutamic acids (E), either individually or in clusters, thus generating single, double, and triple D2L-R mutants. Through analyses of cellular localization by confocal microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), radioligand binding assay, bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET2) β-arrestin 2 (βarr2) recruitment assay, and cAMP signaling, it was revealed that charge reversal of the R residues at all three positions within the motif impaired their colocalization with ER marker calnexin and led to significantly improved cell surface expression. Additionally, these data demonstrate that an R to glutamic acid (E) substitution at position 2 within the RXR motif is not functionally permissible. Furthermore, all generated D2L-R mutants preserved their functional integrity regarding ligand binding, agonist-induced βarr2 recruitment and Gαi-mediated signaling. In summary, our results show that the conserved arginine cluster within the 29-amino acid insert of third cytoplasmic loop (IC3) of the D2L-R appears to be the ER retention signal.