Interactions of the α2A-adrenoceptor with multiple Gi-family G-proteins: studies with pertussis toxin-resistant G-protein mutants

Abstract

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.