title: Ric-8B promotes functional expression of odorant receptors.
abstract: Odorants are detected by a large family of odorant receptors (ORs) expressed in the nose. The information provided by the ORs is transmitted to specific regions of the brain, leading to odorant perception. The determination of the odorant specificities of the different ORs will contribute to the understanding of how odorants are discriminated by the olfactory system. However, to date only a few ORs have been linked to odorants they recognize, because ORs are poorly expressed on the cell surface of heterologous cells. Here we show that Ric-8B, a putative guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Galphaolf, promotes efficient heterologous expression of ORs. Our results also show that Ric-8B enhances accumulation of Galphaolf at the cell periphery, indicating that it promotes functional OR expression by improving the efficiency of OR coupling to Galphaolf. Expression systems containing Galphaolf and Ric-8B should contribute to the functional characterization of ORs.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, CEP 05508-000, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Eduardo C
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Von Dannecker
authors.forename: Adriana F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Mercadante
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Malnic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D044385:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D044385:GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors; D008024:Ligands; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D018035:Receptors, Odorant; C485884:Ric8a protein, mouse; C559967:Ric8b protein, mouse; C084618:olfactory G protein subunit alpha olf