title: The mutant growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) receptor of the little mouse does not bind GHRH.
abstract: The little mouse is a dwarf strain characterized by low levels of GH, pituitary hypoplasia, and an unresponsiveness to treatment with exogenous GHRH. The defect has been mapped to a missense mutation in the GHRH receptor gene that abolishes the function of the receptor, but the mechanism of this inactivation is unknown. Receptor function might be affected at the level of protein expression, maturation and processing, localization to the cell surface, ligand binding, or signaling. In this study, Western blots, using antiserum raised against the GHRH receptor and immunoprecipitation analysis of epitope-tagged receptors, demonstrate that both wild-type and mutant receptor proteins are expressed at equivalent levels in transfected cells. Immunofluorescence analysis of intact and permeabilized cells expressing the epitope-tagged receptors suggests that wild-type and little mouse receptors are similarly localized to the cell surface. A species homologous binding assay was developed and used to show that 125I-mouse GHRH binds with high affinity to the wild-type mouse receptor but not to the little mutant receptor. Consistent with this, the mutant receptor fails to stimulate intracellular cAMP accumulation. Our results demonstrate that the little mutation does not dramatically affect the expression level, glycosylation, or cellular localization of the receptor protein but that it blocks specific GHRH binding, and therefore, signaling does not take place.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22908, USA. bg2g@virginia.edu
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Gaylinn
authors.forename: V I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Dealmeida
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Mayo
authors.forename: M O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Thorner
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004393:Dwarfism, Pituitary / Q000235:genetics; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006031:Glycosylation; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007163:Immunosorbent Techniques; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D018013:Receptors, Neuropeptide / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018017:Receptors, Pituitary Hormone-Regulating Hormone / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D018013:Receptors, Neuropeptide; D018017:Receptors, Pituitary Hormone-Regulating Hormone; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone; C048250:somatotropin releasing hormone receptor