Abstract

The signal transduction of the equine lutropin/choriogonadotropin receptor (eLH/CGR) is unclear in naturally occurring activating/inactivating mutants of this receptor, which plays an important role in reproductive physiology. We undertook the present study to determine whether conserved structurally related mutations in eLH/CGR exhibit similar mechanisms of signal transduction. We constructed four constitutively activating mutants (M398T, L457R, D564G, and D578Y) and three inactivating mutants (D405N, R464H, and Y546F); measured cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation via homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence assays in Chinese hamster ovary cells; and investigated cell-surface receptor loss using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in human embryonic kidney 293 cells. The eLH/CGR-L457R-, -D564G-, and -D578Y-expressing cells exhibited 16.9-, 16.4-, and 11.2-fold increases in basal cAMP response, respectively. The eLH/CGR-D405N- and R464H-expressing cells presented a completely impaired signal transduction, whereas the Y546F-expressing cells exhibited a small increase in cAMP response. The cell-surface receptor loss was 1.4- to 2.4-fold greater in the activating-mutant-expressing cells than in wild-type eLH/CGR-expressing cells, but was completely impaired in the D405N- and Y546F-expressing cells, despite treatment with a high concentration of agonist. In summary, the state of activation of eLH/CGR influenced agonist-induced cell-surface receptor loss, which was directly related to the signal transduction of constitutively activating mutants.

Highlights

  • The surface expression of equine lutropin/choriogonadotropin receptor (eLH/CGR) mutants was determined via an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in transiently transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)K1 cells (Figure 2)

  • The present study showed that the four mutations—eLH/CGR-M398T, L457R, D564G, and D578Y—resulted in a distinctly increased cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) response without agonist treatment, suggesting that these mutations might produce constitutively activating mutants of eLH/CGRs

  • We suggest that the eLH/CGR-M398T mutant displays a constitutive activation of cAMP response without agonist treatment, and the basal cAMP response differs from that in the cells expressing those mutants, despite the small increase observed in this study

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Summary

Introduction

The receptor of the pituitary and placental gonadotropin in species expressing placental chorionic gonadotropin (CG) during early pregnancy plays a critical role in reproductive physiology. Equine CG (eCG), a unique member of the gonadotropin family, displays both luteinizing hormone (LH)-like and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)-like activities in non-equid species [1,2]. ECG, secreted from endometrial cups during early pregnancy, exhibits only LH-like activity in equine species [3]. The β-subunits of eCG and eLH are encoded as one gene, whereas their expression differs in the placenta and pituitary gland. Rec-eCG exhibits dual activities of LH and FSH in other species [1,3]

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