Relatively little is understood concerning the mechanisms by which subtypes of receptors, G proteins and effector enzymes interact to transduce specific signals. Through expression of normal, hybrid and deletion mutant receptors in Xenopus oocytes, we determined the G protein coupling characteristics of the functionally distinct m2 and m3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) subtypes and identified the critical receptor sequences responsible for G protein specificity. Activation of a pertussis toxin insensitive G protein pathway, leading to a rapid and transient release of intracellular Ca2+ characteristic of the m3 receptor, could be specified by the transfer of as few as nine amino acids from the m3 to the m2 receptor. In a reciprocal manner, transfer of no more than 21 residues from the m2 to the m3 receptor was sufficient to specify activation of a pertussis toxin sensitive G protein coupled to a slow and oscillatory Ca2+ release pathway typical of the m2 subtype. Notably, these critical residues occur within the same region of the third cytoplasmic domain of functionally distinct mAChR subtypes.

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Alzheimer disease (AD) is characterized by deposition of amyloid-β, tau, and other specific proteins that accumulate in the brain in detergent-insoluble complexes. AD also involves glutamatergic neurotransmitter system disturbances. Excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) is the dominant glutamate transporter in cerebral cortex and hippocampus. We investigated whether accumulation of detergent-insoluble EAAT2 is related to cognitive impairment and neuropathologic changes in AD by quantifying detergent-insoluble EAAT2 levels in hippocampus and frontal cortex of cognitively normal patients, patients with clinical dementia rating (CDR) = 0.5 (mildly impaired), and AD patients. Parkinson disease (PD) patients served as neurodegenerative disease controls. We found that Triton X-100-insoluble EAAT2 levels were significantly increased in patients with AD compared to controls, while Triton X-100-insoluble EAAT2 levels in CDR = 0.5 patients were intermediately elevated between control and AD subjects. Detergent-insolubility of Presenilin-1, a structurally similar protein, did not differ among the groups, thus arguing EAAT2 detergent-insolubility was not due to nonspecific cellular injury. These findings demonstrate that detergent-insoluble EAAT2 accumulation is a progressive biochemical lesion that correlates with cognitive impairment and neuropathologic changes in AD. These findings lend further support to the idea that dysregulation of the glutamatergic system may play a significant role in AD pathogenesis.

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Disturbed glutamate homeostasis may contribute to the pathological processes involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Once glutamate is released from synapses or from other intracellular sources, it is rapidly cleared by glutamate transporters. EAAC1 (also called EAAT3 or SLC1A1) is the primary glutamate transporter in forebrain neurons. In addition to transporting glutamate, EAAC1 plays other roles in regulating GABA synthesis, reducing oxidative stress in neurons, and is important in supporting neuron viability. Currently, little is known about EAAC1 in AD. To address whether EAAC1 is disturbed in AD, immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue from hippocampus and frontal cortex of AD and normal control subjects matched for age and gender. While EAAC1 immunostaining in cortex appeared comparable to controls, in the hippocampus, EAAC1 aberrantly accumulated in the cell bodies and proximal neuritic processes of CA2-CA3 pyramidal neurons in AD patients. Biochemical analyses showed that Triton X-100-insoluble EAAC1 was significantly increased in the hippocampus of AD patients compared to both controls and Parkinson's disease patients. These findings suggest that aberrant glutamate transporter expression is associated with AD-related neuropathology and that intracellular accumulation of detergent-insoluble EAAC1 is a feature of the complex biochemical lesions in AD that include altered protein solubility.

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Acetylcholme stimulation of the m3 or m2 muscarinic receptor expressed in Xenopus lurris oocytes Induces either a fast transient or slowly oscillating calcmm-sensitive chloride current. The speed of these currents reflects the efficiency of receptor coupling to guanine nucleotide-bmding proteins and phosphatidylinositol (PI) turnover. Point mutations of the m3 receptor were made in a region of the third cytoplasmic loop to test whether receptor function relied on an a-helical structure of the G protein-coupling domain. Prolme substitution for glutamate at position 257 disrupted the m3 response. Also, smgle alanine msertions between residues 259 and 260 disrupted the m3 receptor-stimulated response while double alanme insertions at this site had no effect. Based on these results, we suggest that a region of the third cytoplasmic loop of the m3 receptor possesses an amphipathic a-helical conformation.

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