Soluble mimics of the cytoplasmic face of the human V1-vascular vasopressin receptor bind arrestin2 and calmodulin.

Signal transduction by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is mediated by interactions between intracellular proteins and exposed motifs on the cytoplasmic face of these receptors. Arrestins bind to GPCRs and modulate receptor function either by interfering with heterotrimeric G protein signaling or by serving as signaling adaptors themselves. Calmodulin interacts with GPCRs triggering a calcium response. We have studied the interaction of arrestin2 and calmodulin with intracellular elements of the human V1-vascular vasopressin receptor (hV1R). For this purpose, we designed, expressed, and purified soluble fusion proteins with the maltose-binding protein (MBP) from Escherichia coli that mimic the intracellular surface of the hV1R. These MBP fusion proteins bind arrestin2 and calmodulin with affinities in the micromolar range. A different series of soluble receptor analogs, named vasopressin receptor 1 elements on a soluble scaffold (V1ROSS) proteins, consist of the third intracellular loop and/or the C-terminal segment of the hV1R receptor juxtaposed on the surface of the MBP. V1ROSS proteins bind calmodulin and a truncated, phosphorylation-independent form of arrestin2 more tightly than the corresponding linear fusion proteins. Thus, embedding receptor loops within the three-dimensional structure of the MBP yields a better representation of the active conformation of these receptor loops than linear receptor peptides fused onto the C terminus of the MBP. V1ROSS proteins provide a valuable tool to study receptor interactions because they are more amenable to structural analysis than the native membrane receptor. These findings set the stage for the detailed structural analysis of these protein-protein interactions that are important for understanding the mechanism of signaling.

Mapping the binding site of six nonpeptide antagonists to the human V2-renal vasopressin receptor.

Whereas arginine vasopressin binds to its receptor subtypes V(1)R and V(2)R with equal affinity of approximately 2 nM, nonpeptide antagonists interact differently with vasopressin receptor subtypes. The V(2)R antagonist binding site was mapped by site-directed mutagenesis at six selected amino acid positions, K100D, A110W, M120V, L175Y, R202S, and F307I, predicted to be involved in antagonist binding differences between V(2) R and V(1)R. These mutations did not alter the affinity for arginine vasopressin. However, the affinity for six nonpeptide receptor antagonists SR121463B [1-[4-(N-tert-butylcarbamoyl)-2-methoxybenzenesulfonyl]-5-ethoxy-3-spiro-[4[(2 morpholinoethoxy)cy-clohexane]indoline-2-one, phosphate monohydrate cis-isomer], SR49059 [(2S)1-[(2R3S)-(5-chloro-3-(2 chlorophenyl)-1-(3,4-dimethoxybenzene-sulfonyl)-3-hydroxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-indole-2-carbonyl]-pyrrolidine-2-carboxamide], SSR149415 [(2S,4R)-1-[5-chloro-1-[(2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)sulfonyl]-3-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indol-3-yl]-4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyl-2pyrrolidine carboxamide, isomer(-)], OPC21268 [1-[1-[4-(3-acetylaminopropoxy)benzoyl]-4-piperidyl]-3,4-dihydro-2(1H)-quinolinone], OPC41061 [(+/-)-4'-[(7-chloro-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-5-hydroxy-1H-1-benzazepin-1-yl)carbonyl]-o-tolu-m-toluidide], and OPC31260, [(+/-)-5-dimethylamino-1-[4-(2-methylbenzoylamino)benzoyl]-1,2, 3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-benzazepine monohydrochloride], was altered to varying degrees, resulting in differences up to 6000-fold. Replacement of the small alanine for the bulky tryptophan in position 110 resulted in a reduced affinity for all six antagonists. In contrast, replacement of the large methionine for the smaller valine in position 120 caused a dramatic increase in affinity, up to a K(i) of 7 fM for OPC31260. Molecular modeling revealed that the binding sites for arginine vasopressin and the nonpeptide antagonists are partially overlapping. Whereas arginine vasopressin binds on the extracellular surface of V(2) R, the nonpeptide antagonists penetrate deeper into the transmembrane region of the receptor, in particular OPC21268. The mutagenesis data point to significant differences in the shape of the V(1)R and V(2)R antagonist binding pockets. The most important factor determining the specificity of nonpeptide antagonists seems to be the shape of the binding pocket on the receptor.