A role of Histidine151 in the lamprey gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor-1 (lGnRHR-1): Functional insight of diverse amino acid residues in the position of Tyr of the DRY motif in GnRHR from an ancestral type II receptor

The highly conserved DRY motif located at the end of the third transmembrane of G-protein-coupled receptors has been described as a key motif for several aspects of GPCR functions. However, in the case of the vertebrate gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR), the amino acid in the third position in the DRY motif is variable. In the lamprey, a most basal vertebrate, the third amino acid of the “DRY” in lamprey (lGnRHR-1) is His, while it is most often His/Gln in the type II GnRHR. To investigate the functional significance of the substitution of DRY to DRH in the GnRHR-1, second messenger signaling, ligand binding and internalization of the wild-type and mutant lGnRH receptors were characterized with site-directed mutagenesis. Treatment of the DRE151 and DRS151 mutant receptors with lamprey GnRH-I significantly reduced inositol phosphate compared to wild-type (DRH151) and DRY151 receptors. The Log IC50 of wild-type receptor (−9.554 ± 0.049) was similar to the Log IC50 of DRE151, DRS151 and DRX151 mutants, yet these same mutants were shown to significantly reduce cell-surface expression. However, the DRY151 mutant compared to the wild-type receptor increased cell-surface expression, suggesting that the reduction of IP production was due to the level of the cell-surface expression of the mutant receptors. The rate of internalization of DRX151 (35.60%) was reduced compared to wild-type and other mutant receptors. These results suggest that His151 of the lamprey GnRH receptor-1 may play a critical role in the retention of a certain level of cell-surface expression for subsequent cellular second messenger events.