title: Functional consequences of naturally occurring DRY motif variants in the mammalian chemoattractant receptor GPR33.
abstract: Most members of the large family of rhodopsin-like G-protein-coupled receptors possess an evolutionarily conserved Asp-Arg-Tyr (DRY) motif in the C-terminal region of the third transmembrane domain. Mutations of residues within this motif usually abolish receptor function and, when they occur naturally, can even cause human diseases. By analyzing over 100 mammalian orthologs of the chemoattractant receptor GPR33 we identified several polymorphic and fixed sequence variations within the DRY motif. Unexpectedly, the naturally occurring mutation of Arg(3.50) to His in mouse GPR33 showed no difference from the wild-type receptor in several functional tests. Sequence analysis of GPR33 from Asian house mice revealed the polymorphic existence of Arg(3.50) and His(3.50) alleles in wild-trapped populations, further supporting the functional equivalence of both allelic variants. In contrast, the Arg(3.50) to Gly mutation found in hamster GPR33 inactivates the receptor and may have contributed to pseudogenization of this gene in this species. Functional data with GPR33 variants indicate different receptor- and context-specific consequences of DRY mutations. Our study also reveals GPR33 as a new example illustrating missense mutations as a first step in the pseudogenization process.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Biochemistry, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 30, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Römpler
authors.forename: Hon-Tsen
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orth
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schöneberg
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D019556:COS Cells; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006224:Cricetinae; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D017354:Point Mutation; D011544:Pseudogenes; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: C504823:GPR33 protein, human; C114478:Gpr33 protein, mouse; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled