Time-resolved fluorescence ligand binding for G protein-coupled receptors.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and their ligands are traditionally characterized by radioligand-binding experiments. These experiments yield excellent quantitative data, but have low temporal and spatial resolution. In addition, the use of radioligands presents safety concerns. Here we provide a general procedure for an alternative approach with high temporal and spatial resolution, based on Tb(+)-labeled fluorescent receptor ligands and time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET). This protocol and its design are detailed here for the parathyroid hormone receptor, a class B GPCR, and its fluorescently labeled 34-amino acid peptide ligand, but it can be easily modified for other receptors and their appropriately labeled ligands. We discuss three protocol options that use Tb(+)-labeled fluorescent ligands: a time-resolved fluorescence separation option that works on native receptors but requires separation of bound and unbound ligand; a TR-FRET option using SNAP-tag-labeled receptors for high-throughput screening; and a TR-FRET option that uses fluorescently labeled antibodies directed against an epitope engineered into the Flag-labeled receptors' N terminus. These protocol options can be used as standard procedures with very high signal-to-background ratios in order to characterize ligands and their receptors in living cells and in cell membranes via straightforward plate-reader measurements.

The guanine nucleotide exchange factor Vav2 is a negative regulator of parathyroid hormone receptor/Gq signaling.

The parathyroid hormone receptor (PTHR) is a class B G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that mediates the endocrine and paracrine effects of parathyroid hormone and related peptides through the activation of phospholipase Cß-, adenylyl cyclase-, mitogen-activated protein kinase-, and ß-arrestin-initiated signaling pathways. It is currently not clear how specificity among these downstream signaling pathways is achieved. A possible mechanism involves adaptor proteins that affect receptor/effector coupling. In a proteomic screen with the PTHR C terminus, we identified vav2, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Rho GTPases, as a PTHR-interacting protein. The core domains of vav2 bound to the intracellular domains of the PTHR independent of receptor activation. In addition, vav2 specifically interacted with activated Gα(q) but not with Gα(s) subunits, and it competed with PTHR for coupling to Gα(q). Consistent with its specific interaction with Gα(q), vav2 impaired G(q)-mediated inositol phosphate generation but not G(s)-mediated cAMP generation. This inhibition of G(q) signaling was specific for PTHR signaling, compared with other G(q)-coupled GPCRs. Moreover, the benefit for PTHR-mediated inositol phosphate generation in the absence of vav2 required the ezrin binding domain of Na(+)/H(+)-exchanger regulatory factor 1. Our results show that a RhoA GEF can specifically interact with a GPCR and modulate its G protein signaling specificity.