Selective Activation of a Chimeric Gi1/GsG Protein α Subunit by the Human IP Prostanoid Receptor: Analysis Using Agonist Stimulation of High Affinity GTPase Activity and [35S]Guanosine-5′-O-(3-thio)triphosphate Binding

1998 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chee Wai Fong ◽  
Daljit S. Bahia ◽  
Stephen Rees ◽  
Graeme Milligan
1997 ◽  
Vol 325 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan WISE ◽  
I. Craig CARR ◽  
Graeme MILLIGAN

A fusion protein was generated between the porcine α2A-adrenoceptor and a pertussis-toxin-insensitive (Cys351 → Gly) variant of the α subunit of Gi1α by direct in-frame fusion of the N-terminus of the G-protein to the C-terminus of the receptor. The fusion protein could be transiently expressed to high levels in COS-7 cells. Addition of the α2-adrenoceptor agonist 5-bromo-N-(4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-2-yl)-6-quinoxalinamine (UK14304) to membranes of pertussis-toxin-treated transfected cells resulted in a concentration-dependent stimulation of high-affinity GTPase activity. Vmax estimations for the GTPase activity demonstrated an induced catalytic-centre activity of 2.0±0.2 min-1 for Gi1α when the α2A-adrenoceptor was maximally stimulated by UK14304 with a Km for GTP of 0.37±0.07 μM. Co-expression of excess β1γ2 along with the α2A-adrenoceptor-Gi1α fusion protein resulted in greater maximal UK14304-induced stimulation of high-affinity GTPase activity (2.1±0.2-fold) without alteration in agonist EC50. These studies demonstrate the functionality of the fusion construct, its capacity to interact with βγ complex and its utility in measuring agonist regulation of the catalytic-centre activity of GTP by a receptor-associated G-protein.


1997 ◽  
Vol 321 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan WISE ◽  
Marie-Ange WATSON-KOKEN ◽  
Stephen REES ◽  
Melanie LEE ◽  
Graeme MILLIGAN

The α2A-adrenoceptor is the prototypic example of the family of G-protein-coupled receptors which function by activation of ‘Gi-like’ pertussis toxin-sensitive G-proteins. A number of members of this subfamily of G-proteins are often co-expressed in a single cell type. To examine the interaction of this receptor with individual Gi-family G-proteins the porcine α2A-adrenoceptor was transiently transfected into COS-7 cells either alone or with each of wild-type Gi1α, Gi2α and Gi3α or mutations of each of these G-proteins in which the cysteine residue which is the target for pertussis toxin-catalysed ADP-ribosylation was exchanged for a glycine residue. The α2-adrenoceptor agonist UK14304 stimulated both high-affinity GTPase activity and the binding of guanosine 5ƀ-[γ-35thio]-triphosphate (GTP[35S]), when expressed without any additional G-protein. These effects were greatly reduced by pretreatment of the cells with pertussis toxin. Co-expression of each of the wild-type Gi-like G-protein α-subunits resulted in enhanced agonist activation of the cellular G-protein population which was fully prevented by pretreatment with pertussis toxin. Co-expression of the receptor along with the cysteine-to-glycine mutations of Gi1α, Gi2α and Gi3α resulted in agonist stimulation of these G-proteins, which was as great as that of the wild type proteins, but now the agonist stimulation produced over that due to the activation of endogenously expressed Gi-like G-proteins was resistant to pertussis toxin treatment. The Cys → Gly mutations of Gi1α, Gi2α and Gi3α were each also able to limit agonist-mediated stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity. The degree of agonist-mediated activation of the pertussis toxin-resistant mutant of Gi1a was correlated highly both with the level of expression of this G-protein and with the level of expression of the α2A-adrenoceptor. Half-maximal stimulation of high-affinity GTPase activity of the Cys → Gly mutants of Gi1α, Gi2α and Gi3α required 10Ő15-fold higher concentrations of agonist than did stimulation of their wild-type counterparts, consistent with a model in which the affinity of functional interactions of the α2A-adrenoceptor with the wild-type G-protein is greater than with the pertussis toxin-resistant mutant G-protein.


1999 ◽  
Vol 342 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chee Wai FONG ◽  
Graeme MILLIGAN

Direct measures of G-protein activation based on guanine nucleotide exchange and hydrolysis are frequently impossible to monitor for receptors which interact predominantly with Gsα. An isolated FLAG (Asp-Tyr-Lys-Asp-Asp-Asp-Asp-Lys)-epitope-tagged human IP prostanoid receptor and fusion proteins generated between this form of the receptor and the α subunits of its cognate G-protein Gs, Gi1, a G-protein which it fails to activate in co-expression studies, and a chimaeric Gi1-Gs6 (a form of Gi1 in which the C-terminal six amino acids were replaced with the equivalent sequence of Gs) were stably expressed in HEK293 cells. These were detected by [3H]ligand-binding studies and by immunoblotting with both an anti-FLAG antibody and with appropriate antisera to the G-proteins. Each construct displayed similar affinity to bind the agonist iloprost. Iloprost stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in clones expressing both IP prostanoid receptor and the IP prostanoid receptor-Gsα fusion protein, and both constructs were shown to interact with and activate endogenously expressed Gsα. Addition of iloprost to membranes of cells expressing the isolated receptor resulted in a small stimulation of high-affinity GTPase activity. Iloprost produced no stimulation of GTPase activity which could be attributed to the IP prostanoid receptor-Gi1α fusion. However, the fusion proteins containing either Gsα or Gi1-Gs6α produced substantially greater stimulation of GTPase activity than the isolated IP prostanoid receptor. Treatment of cells expressing the IP prostanoid receptor-Gi1-Gs6α fusion protein with a combination of cholera and pertussis toxins allowed direct measurement of agonist activation of the receptor-linked G-protein. Normalization of such results for levels of expression of the IP prostanoid receptor constructs demonstrated a 5-fold higher stimulation of GTPase activity when using the Gsα-containing fusion protein and a 9-fold improvement when using the fusion protein containing Gi1-Gs6α to detect G-protein activation compared with expression of the isolated receptor.


1994 ◽  
Vol 298 (2) ◽  
pp. 493-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Carr ◽  
M Grassie ◽  
G Milligan

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) stimulated high-affinity GTPase activity in membranes of Rat 1 fibroblasts. This effect was dose-dependent, with maximal effects at 10 microM LPA, and was attenuated by pertussis toxin but not by cholera toxin pretreatment of the cells, indicating that the effect was likely to be produced by a Gi-like G-protein. LPA stimulation of high-affinity GTPase was also observed in a clone of Rat 1 fibroblasts that had been transfected to express the human alpha 2C10 adrenoceptor. The alpha 2 adrenoceptor agonist UK14304 also stimulated high-affinity GTPase activity in membranes of these cells, but not in parental Rat 1 cells. LPA was also able to promote cholera toxin-catalysed [32P]ADP-ribosylation of Gi. This effect of LPA was also prevented by pretreatment of the cells with pertussis toxin but not cholera toxin. LPA-stimulated cholera toxin-catalysed [32P]ADP-ribosylation of Gi in membranes of the alpha 2C10 adrenoceptor-expressing clone was additive with that produced by UK14304. Dose-response curves for LPA in the two assays of G-protein activation were coincident. The results presented herein demonstrate conclusively that the pertussis toxin-sensitive effects of LPA in Rat 1 fibroblasts and a clone of these cells expressing the alpha 2C10 adrenoceptor are produced directly by the activation of Gi.


1992 ◽  
Vol 284 (2) ◽  
pp. 565-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
S J McClue ◽  
E Selzer ◽  
M Freissmuth ◽  
G Milligan

Agonist occupancy of the alpha 2-C10 adrenergic receptor in a stable clone (1C) of Rat 1 fibroblasts produced by transfection of cells with genomic DNA encoding this receptor causes the activation of both of the pertussis-toxin-sensitive G-proteins Gi2 and Gi3 [Milligan, Carr, Gould, Mullaney & Lavan (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 6447-6455]. An IgG fraction from an antiserum (I3B) which identifies the C-terminal decapeptide of Gi3 alpha only was able to inhibit partially receptor stimulation of high-affinity GTPase activity. An equivalent fraction from an antiserum (AS7) able to identify the C-terminal decapeptide of Gi1 alpha + Gi2 alpha, but not Gi3 alpha, was also able to inhibit partially receptor stimulation of GTPase activity, and the effects of the two antisera were additive. By contrast, agonist-mediated inhibition of forskolin-amplified adenylate cyclase activity was abolished completely by the IgG fraction of antiserum AS7, but was not decreased by treatment with antiserum 13B. Based on the proportion of agonist-stimulated high-affinity GTPase which was prevented by each antiserum and on the measured membrane levels of Gi2 and Gi3, calculations indicated that essentially all of the cellular Gi3, but only 15% of the available Gi2, can be activated by the alpha 2-C10 adrenergic receptor in these cells. These results demonstrate that, although Gi3 is activated by alpha 2-adrenergic agonists in membranes of clone 1C cells, it does not contribute to the transduction of receptor-mediated inhibition of adenylate cyclase.


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