C. Le Gouill et al., Selective modulation of wild type receptor functions by mutants of G-protein-coupled receptors, J BIOL CHEM, 274(18), 1999, pp. 12548-12554
Members of the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family are involved in mos
t aspects of higher eukaryote biology, and mutations in their coding sequen
ce have been linked to several diseases. In the present study, we report th
at mutant GPCR can affect the functional properties of the co-expressed wil
d type (WT) receptor. Mutants of the human platelet-activating factor recep
tor that fail to show any detectable ligand binding (N285I and K298stop) or
coupling to a G-protein (D63N, D289A, and Y293A) were co-expressed with th
e WT receptor in Chinese hamster ovary and COS-7 cells. In this context, N2
85I and K298stop mutant receptors inhibited H-3-WEB2086 binding and surface
expression. Co-transfection with D63N resulted in a constitutively active
receptor phenotype. Platelet-activating factor-induced inositol phosphate p
roduction in cells transfected with a 1:1 ratio of WT:D63N was higher than
with the WT cDNA alone but was abolished with a 1:3 ratio. We confirmed tha
t these findings could be extended to other GPCRs by showing that co-expres
sion of the WT C-C chemokine receptor 2b with a carboxyl-terminal deletion
mutant (K311stop), resulted in a decreased affinity and responsiveness to M
CP-1. A better understanding of this phenomenon could lead to important too
ls for the prevention or treatment of certain diseases.