title: Tyrosine 62 of the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor beta 2 subunit is an important determinant of high affinity agonist binding.
abstract: The gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABA(A)R) carries both high (K(D) = 10-30 nm) and low (K(D) = 0.1-1.0 microm) affinity binding sites for agonists. We have used site-directed mutagenesis to identify a specific residue in the rat beta2 subunit that is involved in high affinity agonist binding. Tyrosine residues at positions 62 and 74 were mutated to either phenylalanine or serine and the effects on ligand binding and ion channel activation were investigated after the expression of mutant subunits with wild-type alpha1 and gamma2 subunits in tsA201 cells or in Xenopus oocytes. None of the mutations affected [(3)H]Ro15-4513 binding or impaired allosteric interactions between the low affinity GABA and benzodiazepine sites. Although mutations at position 74 had little effect on [(3)H]muscimol binding, the Y62F mutation decreased the affinity of the high affinity [(3)H]muscimol binding sites by approximately 6-fold, and the Y62S mutation led to a loss of detectable high affinity binding sites. After expression in oocytes, the EC(50) values for both muscimol and GABA-induced activation of Y62F and Y62S receptors were increased by 2- and 6-fold compared with the wild-type. We conclude that Tyr-62 of the beta subunit is an important determinant for high affinity agonist binding to the GABA(A) receptor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Division of Neuroscience, 9-70 Medical Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H7, Canada.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Newell
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Bateson
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Dunn
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002460:Cell Line; D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010649:Phenylalanine / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D051381:Rats; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D014443:Tyrosine; D010649:Phenylalanine