scholarly journals Effect of colchicine and taxol on stimulation of G protein GTPase activity in anterior pituitary lobe of rats by gonadotrophin- and thyrotrophin-releasing hormones

Reproduction ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Ravindra ◽  
R. S. Aronstam
1992 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudravajhala Ravindra ◽  
Robert S Aronstam

In order to understand the biochemical mechanisms underlying the rapid, non-genomic effects of gonadal steroids on gonadotropin secretion, we examined the effects of progesterone, testosterone and estradiol-17β on the low Km GTPase activity associated with transducer G proteins coupled to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptors. Homogenates of anterior pituitary lobes from adult male rats were processed by discontinuous sucrose gradient centrifugation to isolate plasma membranes. The low Km GTPase activity (EC 3.6.1.-) was assayed in 5 μg membrane protein using [γ-32P]GTP at 37°C in an ATP-regenerating buffer containing 1 μmol/l unlabeled GTP. One hundred nmol/l each of progesterone, testosterone and estradiol-17β maximally stimulated low Km GTPase activity by 61%, 59% and 45%, respectively (p<0.05). Time course studies revealed that 100 nmol/l progesterone stimulated the enzyme activity by 93% and 62% at 5 and 30 min, respectively; 100 nmol/l testosterone stimulated GTPase activity by 100% and 72% at 5 and 30 min, respectively: 100 nmol/l estradiol-17β stimulated GTPase activity by 80% and 70% at 5 and 30 min, respectively. GnRH stimulated the low Km GTPase activity by about 60% in a concentration-dependent manner. In the presence of the gonadal steroids, the ability of GnRH to stimulate the GTPase activity was inhibited. For example, stimulation ranged from 36% to 60% with 0.1–100 nmol/l GnRH alone, but only from 7% to 20% in the presence of GnRH and 100 nmol/l progesterone (p<0.05). Similarly, in the presence of 100 nmol/l estradiol-17β, GnRH stimulation of the enzymatic activity ranged from 12% to 19%. It appeared that testosterone was less effective in inhibiting GnRH-stimulated GTPase activity; stimulation ranged from 15% to 32% in the presence of GnRH and 100 nmol/l testosterone (p<0.05). These results, while suggesting that the gonadal steroids disrupt GnRH receptor-G protein interactions, are consistent with the notion that steroids have a profound effect at the membrane level prior to their interaction with the cytosolic receptors.


1996 ◽  
Vol 320 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew R BURT ◽  
I. Craig CARR ◽  
Ian MULLANEY ◽  
Neil G. ANDERSON ◽  
Graeme MILLIGAN

Rat-1 fibroblasts were transfected with a cDNA encoding the mouse Δ opioid receptor. Two separate clones, D2 (which expressed some 6 pmol of the receptor/mg of membrane protein) and DOE (which expressed some 0.2 pmol/mg of membrane protein), were examined in detail. With membranes from both clones, the opioid agonist [D-Ala2]leucine enkephalin (DADLE) caused stimulation of high-affinity GTPase activity and of the binding of guanosine 5´-[γ-[35S]thio]triphosphate, and inhibition of forskolin-amplified adenylate cyclase activity. DADLE also induced phosphorylation and activation of both the p42MAPK (42 kDa isoform) and p44MAPK (44 kDa isoform) members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) family. All of these effects of DADLE were prevented in both clones by pretreatment of the cells with pertussis toxin. The maximal response that could be produced by DADLE in direct assays of G-protein activation were substantially greater in clone D2 than in clone DOE, but in both clones essentially full phosphorylation of both p42MAPK and p44MAPK could be achieved. EC50 values for DADLE stimulation of GTPase activity and for activation of p44MAPK were substantially lower in clone D2 than in clone DOE. Moreover, in both clones the EC50 value for DADLE stimulation of p44MAPK was substantially lower than that for stimulation of GTPase activity, and the Hill coefficients for agonist activation of p44MAPK (h > 1) displayed marked co-operativity whereas those for G-protein activation did not (h 0.8–1.0). DADLE activation of p44MAPK showed more sustained kinetics in clone D2 than in clone DOE. By contrast, lysophosphatidic acid, acting at an endogenously expressed G-protein-coupled receptor, also activated p44MAPK in both clones in a pertussis toxin-sensitive manner, but both the kinetics and the concentration–response curve for activation of p44MAPK by this ligand were similar. As with other systems, maintained cellular levels of a cAMP analogue prevented the effects of both G-protein-coupled receptors on activation of p44MAPK. These results demonstrate for the first time that an opioid receptor, at least when expressed in Rat-1 fibroblasts, is able to initiate activation of the MAP kinase cascade in a Gi-dependent manner, and show that only a very small proportion of the cellular Gi population is required to be activated to result in full phosphorylation of the p42MAPK and p44MAPK MAP kinases.


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.


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.


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.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document