We report four human tachykinins, endokinins A, B, C, and D (EKA-D), encoded from a single tachykinin precursor 4 gene that generates four mRNAs (␣, , ␥, and ␦). Tachykinin 4 gene expression was detected primarily in adrenal gland and in the placenta, where, like neurokinin B, significant amounts of EKB-like immunoreactivity were detected. EKA͞B 10-mers displayed equivalent affinity for the three tachykinin receptors as substance P (SP), whereas a 32-mer N-terminal extended form of EKB was significantly more potent than EKA͞B or SP. EKC͞D, which possess a previously uncharacterized tachykinin motif, FQGLL-NH2, displayed low potency. EKA͞B displayed identical hemodynamic effects to SP in rats, causing short-lived falls in mean arterial blood pressure associated with tachycardia, mesenteric vasoconstriction, and marked hindquarter vasodilatation. Thus, EKA͞B could be the endocrine͞paracrine agonists at peripheral SP receptors and there may be as yet an unidentified receptor(s) for EKC͞D.
M-tropic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) strains enter the cell after interaction with their receptors, CD4 and the G-protein-coupled chemokine receptor CCR5. The number of cell surface CCR5 molecules is thought to be important in determining the infection rate for HIV. Cell surface CCR5 is dependent on the rate of receptor internalization and recycling. Internalization of G-protein-coupled receptors after agonist activation is thought to occur either through clathrin-coated pits or through caveolae. In this study, the role of these different pathways was investigated in Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing CCR5 using specific inhibitors. Internalization of CCR5 after chemokine treatment was inhibited by sucrose, indicating a role for the clathrin-coated pit pathway. Activation of CCR5 leads to arrestin-2 movement in the cells, providing further evidence for the involvement of clathrin-coated pits. Nystatin and filipin also affected the rate of internalization of CCR5, indicating a role for caveolae. Using inhibitors of vesicle transport in the cell, it was found that the CCR5 recycling pathway is independent of the Golgi apparatus and late endosomes. Protein synthesis is not involved in receptor recovery. It seems likely that after internalization, CCR5 is directed to early endosomes and subsequently recycled to the cell surface. (Blood. 2002;99:785-791)
Measurements of affinity and efficacy are fundamental for work on agonists both in drug discovery and in basic studies on receptors. In this review I wish to consider methods for measuring affinity and efficacy at G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Agonist affinity may be estimated in terms of the dissociation constant for agonist binding to a receptor using ligand binding or functional assays. It has, however, been suggested that measurements of affinity are always contaminated by efficacy so that it is impossible to separate the two parameters. Here I show that for many GPCRs, if receptor/G protein coupling is suppressed, experimental measurements of agonist affinity using ligand binding (K obs ) provide quite accurate measures of the agonist microscopic dissociation constant (K A ). Also in pharmacological functional studies, good estimates of agonist dissociation constants are possible. Efficacy can be quantitated in several ways based on functional data (maximal effect of the agonist (E max ), ratio of agonist dissociation constant to concentration of agonist giving half maximal effect in functional assay (K obs / EC 50 ), a combined parameter E max K obs /EC 50 ). Here I show that E max K obs /EC 50 provides the best assessment of efficacy for a range of agonists across the full range of efficacy for full to partial agonists. Considerable evidence now suggests that ligand efficacy may be dependent on the pathway used to assess it. The efficacy of a ligand may, therefore, be multidimensional. It is still, however, necessary to have accurate measures of efficacy in different pathways.
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