Structural insight into the role of the human melanocortin 3 receptor cysteine residues on receptor function

Melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R), expressed in the hypothalamus and limbic systems of the brain, as well as by peripheral sites, plays an important role in the regulation of energy homeostasis and other physiological functions. Past work shows that MC3R-deficiency resulted in fat mass increase, feeding efficiency increase, hyperleptinemia and mild hyperinsulinemia in mice and human. MC3R belongs to G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) family and many studies indicate that some cysteine residues in GPCR play key roles in maintaining receptor tertiary structure and function. In this study, we examined the role of cysteine residues in MC3R on receptor function. Human MC3R (hMC3R) has eighteen cysteine residues where they are located in the extracellular loops (ELs), the transmembrane domains (TMs) and the intracellular loops (ILs). We replaced these cysteines with serine and expressed these receptors in HEK-293 cells which lack endogenous MC3R. Our results indicate that five cysteines in eighteen of the hMC3R are important for hMC3R function. Mutations, C305S, C311S, and C313S in EL3, resulted in significant decrease in receptor expression and receptor function while two other mutations C115S and C162S in TM3 significantly decreased NDP-MSH binding affinity and potency. These results suggest that extracellular cysteine residue 305, 311 and 313 are crucial for receptor expression and the transmembrane cysteine residue, C115 and 162 are important for ligand binding and signaling. These findings provide important insights into the importance of cysteine residues of hMC3R on receptor tertiary structure and function.