An aromatic amino acid within intracellular loop 2 of the prostaglandin EP2 receptor is a prerequisite for selective association and activation of Gαs.

We previously demonstrated that the aromatic moiety of Tyr143 within the intracellular loop 2 (ICL2) region of the prostaglandin EP2 receptor plays a crucial role in Gs coupling. Here we investigated whether the ICL2 of the EP2 receptor directly binds to Gαs and whether an aromatic moiety affects this interaction. In Chinese hamster ovary cells, mutations of Tyr143 reduced the ability of the EP2 receptor to interact with G proteins as demonstrated by GTPγS sensitivity, as well as the ability of agonist-induced cAMP formation, with the rank order of Phe>Tyr (wild-type)=Trp>Leu>Ala (=0). We found that the wild-type ICL2 peptide (i2Y) and its mutant with Phe at Tyr143 (i2F) inhibited receptor-G protein complex formation of wild-type EP2 in membranes, whereas the Ala-substituted mutant (i2A) did not. Specific interactions between these peptides and the Gαs protein were detected by surface plasmon resonance, but Gαs showed different association rates, with a rank order of i2F>i2Y≫i2A, with similar dissociation rates. Moreover, i2F and i2Y, but not i2A activated membrane adenylyl cyclase. These results indicate that the ICL2 region of the EP2 receptor is its potential interaction site with Gαs, and that the aromatic side chain moiety at position 143 is a determinant for the accessibility of the ICL2 to the Gαs protein.

In vitro analyses of the production and activity of secondary small interfering RNAs in C. elegans.

In the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) play important roles as intermediates. Primary siRNAs are produced from trigger dsRNAs by an RNaseIII-related enzyme called Dicer; in some organisms, secondary siRNAs are also produced by processes involving RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs), which act on target mRNAs. Using a cell-free assay system prepared from Caenorhabditis elegans, we analyzed the production and activity of secondary siRNAs. In this cell-free system, RdRP activity acts on mRNA-derived templates to produce small RNAs. The RRF-1 complex is predominantly responsible for the RdRP activity, and synthesizes secondary-type siRNA molecules in a Dicer-independent manner. Notably, secondary-type siRNAs induce a prominent Slicer activity to cleave target mRNAs far more effectively than primary-type siRNAs. An Argonaute protein, CSR-1, is responsible for the Slicer activity induced by secondary-type siRNAs. Secondary rather than primary siRNAs may play a major role in the destabilization of target transcripts during RNAi in C. elegans.