昆虫毒蕈碱型乙酰胆碱受体的研究进展

毒蕈碱型乙酰胆碱受体(Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors,mAChRs)是昆虫神经系统中一类重要的G蛋白偶联受体.昆虫mAChRs可以分为A、B、C型三大类,它们通过偶联不同的G蛋白激活不同的第二信使,完成信号转导过程,从而发挥其功能.mAChRs参与调控昆虫多种生理反应和行为过程,如...     

Solubilization and characterization of muscarinic receptors from bovine brain

This study compared the capacity of different detergents to solubilize the muscarinic cholinergic receptor (mAChR) from bovine brain, evaluated various procedures for the measurement of [3H]-L-quinuclidinyl benzilate [( 3H]-L-QNB) binding to solubilized receptors, and examined some physical and chemical characteristics of the soluble material. An active form of the mAChR was solubilized using digitonin (1%), Triton X-100 (0.5%), and a digitonin-cholate mixture (1%, 0.1%). Values of maximal binding (Bmax) were 2.01, 0.47, and 0.68 pmoles/mg protein, respectively. Comparison of equilibrium dialysis, charcoal adsorption, and polyethylene glycol precipitation indicated that these methods differ in their estimation of Bmax. A decrease in [3H]-L-QNB binding to digitonin solubilized receptors occurred upon dilution or incubation at 37 degrees. The half-life at 37 degrees C was 25 min., but was increased by glycerol. Antagonist binding to digitonin solubilized receptors was saturable and of high affinity. Agonist binding had Hill coefficients less than 1 and was increased by micromolar concentrations of cupric ions.     

Agonist-induced phosphorylation and desensitization of human m2 muscarinic cholinergic receptors in Sf9 insect cells.

The human m1 (hm1) and m2 (hm2) muscarinic cholinergic receptors (mAChR) expressed in Sf9 insect cells using recombinant baculovirus were tested for their ability to undergo agonist-dependent phosphorylation and desensitization. The muscarinic agonist carbachol induced phosphorylation of the hm2 mAChR in the Sf9 cells incubated with 32P(i) to an extent of 4-5 mol of phosphate/mol of receptor. In contrast, no phosphorylation of the hm1 mAChR was observed. The hm2 mAChR stimulated [35S]GTP gamma S binding to, and GTPase activity of, the insect cell G-proteins. These receptor-mediated activities were reduced by 50% in membranes prepared from agonist-treated cells compared to control, suggesting that the agonist-induced phosphorylation of the hm2 mAChR resulted in desensitization of the receptors. No role for protein kinase C or cyclic nucleotide-dependent kinases in receptor phosphorylation and desensitization was suggested from studies using agents known to modulate the activity of these enzymes. However, pertussis toxin was found to completely eliminate the interaction of the hm2 receptors with the insect cell G-proteins, but did not perturb the ability of carbachol to induce agonist-dependent phosphorylation of the receptors. These results suggested that G-proteins and/or G-protein-activated signalling were not necessary for the agonist-induced phosphorylation of the receptors. Overall, the data indicated that the human m2 (but not the human m1) mAChR expressed in Sf9 insect cells undergo phosphorylation and desensitization in an agonist-dependent, G-protein-independent fashion by an endogenous insect cell kinase. The results demonstrated that a human G-protein-linked receptor is regulated in insect cells in a manner that is similar to that involving members of the G-protein receptor-kinase family.     

In vivo characterization of myocardium muscarinic receptors by positron emission tomography

The feasibility of studying myocardium muscarinic receptors, non invasively, in a “live” being can be demonstrated using positron emission tomography (PET) and a ligand labelled by carbon 11, an externally detectable short lived radionuclide. Criteria necessary for in vitro characterization of muscarinic receptors by a specific ligand were verified in vivo by this method. This demonstration was carried out after injecting in a baboon, high specific activity ¹¹C-MQNB (the methiodide salt of quinuclidinyl benzylate) a muscarinic antagonist drug, and displacing the radioactive ligand by increasing amounts of atropine. Displacement was proportionnal to the dose of atropine and a correlation was observed between displacement and pharmacological activity (increase of heart rate). Stereospecificity of the binding was also demonstrated by using two stereoisomers of benzetimide : dexetimide and levetimide.     

Constitutively active muscarinic receptors

Mutations that increase constitutive activity and alter ligand binding have been used to investigate the structure and mechanism of activation of muscarinic receptors. These data are reviewed with reference to the recently published three-dimensional structure of rhodopsin. Residues in TM3 and TM6 where amino acid substitutions increased constitutive activity align with residues within the core of the receptor. A nucleus of these residues is located immediately below the predicted binding site of acetylcholine. The i2 loop where mutations also increase constitutive activity was found to loop away from the i3 loop, which has been found to modulate G-protein coupling specificity.     

High affinity acylating antagonists for muscarinic receptors.

The muscarinic antagonists pirenzepine and telenzepine were derivatized as alkylamino derivatives at a site on the molecules corresponding to a region of bulk tolerance in receptor binding. The distal primary amino groups were coupled to the cross-linking reagent meta-phenylene diisothiocyanate, resulting in two isothiocyanate derivatives that were found to inhibit muscarinic receptors irreversibly and in a dose-dependent fashion. Preincubation of rat forebrain membranes with an isothiocyanate derivative followed by radioligand binding using [3H]N-methylscopolamine diminished the Bmax value, but did not affect the Kd value. The receptor binding site was not restored upon repeated washing, indicating that irreversible inhibition had occurred. IC50 values for the irreversible inhibition at rat forebrain muscarinic receptors were 0.15 nM and 0.19 nM, for derivatives of pirenzepine and telenzepine, respectively. The isothiocyanate derivative of pirenzepine was non-selective as an irreversible muscarinic inhibitor, and the corresponding derivative prepared from telenzepine was 5-fold selective for forebrain (mainly m1) vs. heart (m2) muscarinic receptors.     

Pharmacologic methods for identification of receptors

Determinations of apparent equilibrium dissociation constants of drug-receptor interactions are made from both functional and radioligand binding studies. In each type of study, reversible reactions are assumed and the mass action law is applied. Functional studies are frequently used to determine the dissociation constant of a competitive antagonist but are less frequently used to obtain this constant for agonist compounds since the latter determination requires an experimental procedure that irreversibly inactivates a fraction of the receptors. In the present report, values of dissociation constant for prototype agonists and antagonists, determined from binding and from functional studies, are examined in two classical isolated preparations, rabbit aorta and guinea-pig ileum. In each preparation the dissociation constants from binding and functional experiments agree well for the antagonists but differ markedly for the agonists. Further, the dissociation constant values from binding are seen to be greater for the agonists than for the antagonists. When a chronic treatment regimen in the rabbit resulted in a pronounced change in the functional dissociation constant of subsequently administered norepinephrine, there was no significant change in either the binding constant of this agonist or in the pA2 value of the alpha antagonist, phentolamine. These, and the previously described results, are shown to be compatible with a simple two-state receptor model in which agonists bind with high and low affinity to each state while antagonists do not distinguish between the states. In this model, the ratio of low to high affinity states accounts for the failure of the binding procedure to detect changes in the agonists dissociation constant that are highly significant in the functional study. Whereas the model is based on data for these two classical preparations only, and may not be more generally applicable, the findings demonstrate the necessity for employing both functional and radioligand binding experiments when characterizing drug receptors.     

Nitric oxide signalling: insect brains and photocytes

The success of insects arises partly from extraordinary biochemical and physiological specializations. For example, most species lack glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and respiratory-gas transport proteins and thus allow oxygen to diffuse directly into cells. To counter the increased potential for oxidative damage, insect tissues rely on the indirect protection of the thioredoxin reductase pathway to maintain redox homoeostasis. Such specializations must impact on the control of reactive oxygen species and free radicals such as the signalling molecule NO. This chapter focuses on NO signalling in the insect central nervous system and in the light-producing lantern of the firefly. It is shown that neural NO production is coupled to both muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The NO-mediated increase in cGMP evokes changes in spike activity of neurons controlling the gut and body wall musculature. In addition, maps of NO-producing and -responsive neurons make insects useful models for establishing the range and specificity of NO's actions in the central nervous system. The firefly lantern also provides insight into the interplay of tissue anatomy and cellular biochemistry in NO signalling. In the lantern, nitric oxide synthase is expressed in tracheal end cells that are interposed between neuron terminals and photocytes. Exogenous NO can activate light production and NO scavengers block evoked flashes. NO inhibits respiration in isolated lantern mitochondria and this can be reversed by bright light. It is proposed that NO controls flashes by transiently inhibiting oxygen consumption and permitting direct oxidation of activated luciferin. It is possible that light production itself contributes to the restoration of mitochondrial activity and consequent cessation of the flash.     

Biochemical studies on muscarinic receptors

Muscarinic receptors have been characterized in smooth muscle and brain by the binding of reversible (e.g. atropine, quinuclidinylbenzylate) or irreversible (benzilylcholine or propylbenzilylcholine mustards) ligands. There is a close correlation between affinity constants derived from binding experiments and the affinities of muscarinic ligands for these sites obtained in pharmacological experiments on smooth muscle. Whereas atropine shows a single high affinity binding component (in subcellular preparations) several other ligands (QNB, ACh, oxotremorine) show multiple affinity binding. This indicated the existence of several types of binding sides which show selectivity toward certain cholinergic effectors. Most detergents inhibit the binding of ligands to the receptor site and therefore cannot be used to solubilize the receptor protein from the membrane. Treatment of brain subcellular membrane preparations with high salt concentrations (2M NaI) solubilize proteins which possess the muscarinic ligand binding properties observed in the membrane preparation. The affinities for muscarinic antagonists however are decreased, which suggests that a conformational change occurs in the protein upon solubilization.     

Structure-function analysis of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors

The structural basis underlying the G protein coupling selectivity of different muscarinic receptor subtypes was analyzed by using a combined molecular genetic/biochemical approach. These studies led to the identification of key residues on the receptors as well as the associated G proteins that are critically involved in determining proper receptor/G protein recognition. Mutational analysis of the m3 muscarinic receptor showed that most native cysteine residues are not required for productive receptor/G protein coupling. The putative extracellular disulfide bond was found to be essential for efficient trafficking of the receptor protein to the cell surface but not for receptor-mediated G protein activation.     

Constitutive activity of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors

We review the literature describing constitutive activity of the five muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in native and recombinant systems and discuss the effect of constitutive activity on muscarinic pharmacology in the context of modern models of receptor activation. We include a summary of mutations found to cause constitutive activity and discuss the implications of these data for the structure, function, and activation mechanism of muscarinic receptors. Finally, we discuss the possible physiological significance of constitutive activity of muscarinic receptors, incorporating information provided by targeted deletion of each of the muscarinic subtypes.     

Endocytosis and recycling of muscarinic receptors

Agonist stimulation causes the endocytosis of many G protein-coupled receptors, including muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. In this study we have investigated the agonist-triggered trafficking of the M3 muscarinic receptor expressed in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. We have compared the ability of a series of agonists to generate the second messenger Ins(1,4,5)P3 with their ability to stimulate receptor endocytosis. We show that there is a good correlation between the intrinsic activity of the agonists and their ability to increase the rate constant for receptor endocytosis. Furthermore, on the basis of our results, we predict that even very weak partial agonists should under some circumstances be able to cause substantial receptor internalization. Receptor endocytosis occurs too slowly to account for the rapid desensitization of the Ca2+ response to carbachol. Instead, receptor endocytosis and recycling appear to play an important role in resensitization. After an initial agonist challenge, the response to carbachol is fully recovered when only about half of the receptors have been recycled to the cell surface, suggesting that there is a receptor reserve of about 50%. Removal of this reserve by receptor alkylation significantly reduces the extent of resensitization. Resensitization is also reduced by inhibitors of either endocytosis alone (concanavalin A) or of endocytosis and recycling (nigericin). Finally, the protein phosphatase inhibitor calyculin A also reduces resensitization, possibly by blocking the dephosphorylation of the receptors in an endosomal compartment.     

Electrophoretic characterization of muscarinic receptors under denaturating and nondenaturating conditions: computer-assisted Ferguson plot analysis

The physical properties of the covalently labeled [( 3H]propylbenzilycholine mustard) muscarinic acetylcholine receptor from rat brain were studied by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis and computer-assisted Ferguson plot analysis. No proteolytic degradation or dimerization of the ligand binding subunit was found. No clues for different molecular weight forms or anomalous migration of the muscarinic receptor were detected. The weighted regression analysis of Ferguson plots gave an apparent molecular mass of 64-65 kDa. A new method for the electrophoretic separation of native (quinuclidinyl[3H]benzilate labeled) muscarinic receptor-detergent complexes was used for the comparison of wheat germ agglutinin binding, and not lectin binding receptors which were obtained by selective solubilization from porcine striatum. For this purpose, the computer-assisted Ferguson plot analysis is particularly suitable, since it renders possible the statistical assessment of both size and charge differences. Both receptor-detergent complexes were found to differ; statistically significant in their net charge but not in their size. The data support the view that muscarinic receptors from different sources may differ considerably in their glycosylation and that the receptor from porcine striatum can reversibly associate with a low-molecular-mass component which contains sialic acid.     

Pharmacology of insect GABA receptors

A GABA-operated Cl^– channel that is bicuculline-insensitive is abundant in the nervous tissue of cockroach, in housefly head preparations and thorax/abdomen preparations, and in similar preparations from several insect species. Bicuculline-insensitive GABA-operated Cl^– channels, which are rare in vertebrates, possess sites of action of benzodiazepines, steroids and insecticides that are pharmacologically-distinct from corresponding sites on vertebrate GABA_A receptors. The pharmacological profile of the benzodiazepine-binding site linked to an insect CNS GABA-operated Cl^– channel resembles more closely that of vertebrate peripheral benzodiazepine-binding sites. Six pregnane steroids and certain polychlorocycloalkane insecticides, which are active att-butylbicy-clophosphorothionate (TBPS)-binding sites, also differ in their effectiveness on vertebrate and insect GABA receptors. Radioligand binding and physiological studies indicate that in insects there may be subtypes of the GABA receptor. Molecular biology offers experimental approaches to understanding the basis of this diversity.Special issue dedicated to Dr. Eugene Roberts