Can BRET-based biosensors be used to characterize G-protein mediated signaling pathways of an insect GPCR, the Schistocerca gregaria CRF-related diuretic hormone receptor?

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are membrane-bound receptors that are considered prime candidates for the development of novel insect pest management strategies. However, the molecular signaling properties of insect GPCRs remain poorly understood. In fact, most studies on insect GPCR signaling are limited to analysis of fluctuations in the secondary messenger molecules calcium (Ca2+) and/or cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). In the current study, we characterized a corticotropin-releasing factor-related diuretic hormone (CRF-DH) receptor of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria. This Schgr-CRF-DHR is mainly expressed in the nervous system and in brain-associated endocrine organs. The neuropeptide Schgr-CRF-DH induced Ca2+-dependent aequorin-based bioluminescent responses in CHO cells co-expressing this receptor with the promiscuous Gα16 protein. Furthermore, when co-expressed with the cAMP-dependent bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET)-based CAMYEL biosensor in HEK293T cells, this receptor elicited dose-dependent agonist-induced responses with an EC50 in the nanomolar range (4.02 nM). In addition, we tested if vertebrate BRET-based G protein biosensors, can also be used to detect direct Gα protein subunit activation by an insect GPCR. Therefore, we analyzed ten different human BRET-based G protein biosensors, representing members of all four Gα protein subfamilies; Gαs, Gαi/o, Gαq/11 and Gα12/13. Our data demonstrate that stimulation of Schgr-CRF-DHR by Schgr-CRF-DH can dose-dependently activate Gαi/o and Gαs biosensors, while no significant effects were observed with the Gαq/11 and Gα12/13 biosensors. Our study paves the way for future biosensor-based studies to analyze the signaling properties of insect GPCRs in both fundamental science and applied research contexts.

Partial Agonist and Biased Signaling Properties of the Synthetic Enantiomers J113863/UCB35625 at Chemokine Receptors CCR2 and CCR5.

Biased agonism at G protein-coupled receptors constitutes a promising area of research for the identification of new therapeutic molecules. In this study we identified two novel biased ligands for the chemokine receptors CCR2 and CCR5 and characterized their functional properties. We showed that J113863 and its enantiomer UCB35625, initially identified as high affinity antagonists for CCR1 and CCR3, also bind with low affinity to the closely related receptors CCR2 and CCR5. Binding of J113863 and UCB35625 to CCR2 or CCR5 resulted in the full or partial activation of the three Gi proteins and the two Go isoforms. Unlike chemokines, the compounds did not activate G12 Binding of J113863 to CCR2 or CCR5 also induced the recruitment of ß-arrestin 2, whereas UCB35625 did not. UCB35625 induced the chemotaxis of L1.2 cells expressing CCR2 or CCR5. In contrast, J113863 induced the migration of L1.2-CCR2 cells but antagonized the chemokine-induced migration of L1.2-CCR5 cells. We also showed that replacing the phenylalanine 3.33 in CCR5 TM3 by the corresponding histidine of CCR2 converts J113863 from an antagonist for cell migration and a partial agonist in other assays to a full agonist in all assays. Further analyses indicated that F3.33H substitution strongly increased the activation of G proteins and ß-arrestin 2 by J113863. These results highlight the biased nature of the J113863 and UCB35625 that act either as antagonist, partial agonist, or full agonist according to the receptor, the enantiomer, and the signaling pathway investigated.

Biased signaling at chemokine receptors.

The ability of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to activate selective signaling pathways according to the conformation stabilized by bound ligands (signaling bias) is a challenging concept in the GPCR field. Signaling bias has been documented for several GPCRs, including chemokine receptors. However, most of these studies examined the global signaling bias between G protein- and arrestin-dependent pathways, leaving unaddressed the potential bias between particular G protein subtypes. Here, we investigated the coupling selectivity of chemokine receptors CCR2, CCR5, and CCR7 in response to various ligands with G protein subtypes by using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer biosensors monitoring directly the activation of G proteins. We also compared data obtained with the G protein biosensors with those obtained with other functional readouts, such as ß-arrestin-2 recruitment, cAMP accumulation, and calcium mobilization assays. We showed that the binding of chemokines to CCR2, CCR5, and CCR7 activated the three Gαi subtypes (Gαi1, Gαi2, and Gαi3) and the two Gαo isoforms (Gαoa and Gαob) with potencies that generally correlate to their binding affinities. In addition, we showed that the binding of chemokines to CCR5 and CCR2 also activated Gα12, but not Gα13. For each receptor, we showed that the relative potency of various agonist chemokines was not identical in all assays, supporting the notion that signaling bias exists at chemokine receptors.