Tm. Fong et al., DIFFERENTIAL ACTIVATION OF INTRACELLULAR EFFECTOR BY 2 ISOFORMS OF HUMAN NEUROKININ-1 RECEPTOR, Molecular pharmacology, 41(1), 1992, pp. 24-30
Two isoforms of the human neurokinin-1 receptor were cloned and charac
terized in heterologous expression systems of mammalian cell culture a
nd Xenopus oocytes. The two isoforms differ only in the length of the
encoded polypeptide. The peptide-binding properties of the long form o
f human neurokinin-1 receptor are consistent with those of the native
neurokinin-1 receptor of mammalian tissues, where substance P is the m
ost potent agonist. Peptide agonists elicit an oscillating current in
Xenopus oocytes expressing the long form. In contrast, the short form
of human neurokinin-1 receptor expressed in COS cells binds substance
P with an apparent affinity at least 10-fold lower than that of the lo
ng form, and it elicits the electrophysiological response only weakly
in Xenopus oocytes. These data suggest that the short form couples to
a different effector system. Sequence analysis suggested that the two
isoforms may arise from alternative pre-mRNA splicing. These results i
ndicate that multiple forms of the human neurokinin-1 receptor exist a
nd the differential activation of intracellular effector may be involv
ed in generating the complex biological effects of substance P.