Molecular Determinants of Picrotoxin Inhibition of 5-Hydroxytryptamine Type 3 Receptors
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0022-3565/05/3141-320–328$20.00 THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS Vol. 314, No. 1 Copyright © 2005 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 80325/3037370 JPET 314:320–328, 2005 Printed in U.S.A. Molecular Determinants of Picrotoxin Inhibition of 5-Hydroxytryptamine Type 3 Receptors Paromita Das and Glenn H. Dillon Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas Received November 6, 2004; accepted March 25, 2005 ABSTRACT Downloaded from Previously, we reported that the GABAA receptor antagonist ceptors, and also conferred distinct gating kinetics. The equiv- Ј picrotoxin also antagonizes serotonin (5-HT)3 receptors and alent mutation in the 3B subunit (i.e., 7 valine to threonine) had that its effects are subunit-dependent. Here, we sought to no impact on PTX sensitivity in 5-HT3A/3B receptors. Interest- 3 3 identify amino acids involved in picrotoxin inhibition of 5-HT3 ingly, [ H]ethynylbicycloorthobenzoate ([ H]EBOB), a high-af- receptors. Mutation of serine to alanine at the transmembrane finity ligand to the convulsant site in GABAA receptors, did not Ј domain 2 (TM2) 2 position did not affect picrotoxin (PTX) exhibit specific binding in 5-HT3A receptors. The structurally sensitivity in murine 5-HT3A receptors. However, mutation of related compound, tert-butylbicyclophosphorothionate (TBPS), jpet.aspetjournals.org Ј the 6 TM2 threonine to phenylalanine dramatically reduced which potently inhibits GABAA receptors, did not inhibit 5-HT3 PTX sensitivity. Mutation of 6Ј asparagine to threonine in the currents. Our results indicate that the TM2 6Ј residue is a 5-HT3B subunit enhanced PTX sensitivity in heteromeric common determinant of PTX inhibition of both 5-HT3 and Ј 5-HT3A/3B receptors. Introduction of serine (native to the human GABAA receptors and demonstrate a role of the 7 residue in 3B subunit) at the 6Ј position also increased PTX sensitivity, PTX inhibition. However, lack of effects of EBOB and TBPS in Ј suggesting a species-specific effect. Mutation of the 7 leucine 5-HT3A receptors suggests that the functional domains in the to threonine in 5-HT3A receptors increased PTX sensitivity two receptors are not equivalent and underscores the complex- at ASPET Journals on January 18, 2020 roughly 10-fold, comparable with that observed in GABAA re- ity of PTX modulation of LGICs. The 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3 (5-HT3) receptor is a coexpression of 5-HT3B with the 5-HT3A subunit results in a member of the cys-loop superfamily of ligand-gated ion chan- heteromeric receptor with distinct biophysical properties nels (LGICs) that includes nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, (Davies et al., 1999). Recently, three additional putative GABA , GABA , glycine receptors, and invertebrate gluta- A c 5-HT3 subunits, 5-HT3C, 3D, and 3E have been cloned (Niesler mate-gated chloride channels (Reeves et al., 2001; Karlin, et al., 2003). The pharmacological and functional properties 2002). 5-HT receptor antagonists are useful as antiemetics 3 of these novel 5-HT3-like subunits are currently unknown. in chemotherapy-induced emesis and in irritable bowel syn- Like other members of this superfamily, the 5-HT3 recep- drome. They also may have utility in treatment of neuropsy- tor is pentameric in nature, with the five subunits surround- chiatric diseases such as anxiety and drug dependence and in ing a central ion channel (Boess et al., 1995). The receptor management of pain (Costall and Naylor, 2004). shares structural features common to LGICs, such as a large The 5-HT subunit was identified initially and shown to 3A extracellular N-terminal region, four transmembrane (TM) form functional homomeric receptors (Maricq et al., 1991). A domains (TM1–TM4), and an intracellular loop between TM3 second subunit (5-HT ) was subsequently cloned and char- 3B and TM4. Evidence suggests that the agonist binding site is acterized (Davies et al., 1999). The 5-HT3B subunit is inca- pable of forming functional homomeric cell surface receptors located in the N-terminal region, whereas TM2 forms the because it is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum in the pore (Akabas et al., 1994; Ortells and Lunt, 1995; Brejc et al., absence of the 3A subunit (Boyd et al., 2003). However, 2001). The plant-derived alkaloid picrotoxin was originally shown This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant ES07904 to be a noncompetitive antagonist of GABAA receptors (to G.H.D.). (Takeuchi and Takeuchi, 1969). It was subsequently demon- Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at strated that picrotoxin inhibits other anion-selective ligand- http://jpet.aspetjournals.org. doi:10.1124/jpet.104.080325. gated anion channels, including glycine and GABAC recep- ABBREVIATIONS: 5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine; LGIC, ligand-gated ion channel; TM, transmembrane; PTX, picrotoxin; m-CPBG, meta-chloro- phenylbiguanide; EBOB, ethynylbicycloorthobenzoate; TBPS, tert-butylbicyclophosphorothionate; [3H]GR65630, [3H]3-(5-methyl-1H-imidazol-4- yl)-1-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)-1-propanone. 320 Picrotoxin Blocks 5-HT3 Receptors at Transmembrane Domain 2 321 tors (Pribilla et al., 1992; Wang et al., 1995) and glutamate- N6ЈT,V7ЈT), mutagenic primers were designed using B-N6ЈTasthe gated ClϪ channels (Etter et al., 1999). Recently, we have template DNA. All mutations were confirmed by DNA sequencing (Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX). Wild-type and mutant recep- shown that PTX also inhibits the cation-selective 5-HT3A receptors in a noncompetitive, use-facilitated manner (Das et tors were transfected in HEK-293 cells using the modified calcium al., 2003). Additionally, the interaction of PTX with the phosphate transfection method (Chen and Okayama, 1987). For each 5-HT receptor is subunit-dependent. Coexpression of the transfection, approximately 4 to 10 g of DNA was used. For cotrans- 3 fection of receptor subunits, a 1:1 ratio of respective cDNA was used 5-HT subunit with the 5-HT subunit results in a sub- 3B 3A (unless otherwise stated). Cells were washed twice and were used for stantial decrease in PTX sensitivity, making PTX the only recording 12 to 48 h after transfection. antagonist that displays notable selectivity between homo- Radioligand Binding Assays. Saturation experiments were car- meric and heteromeric 5-HT3 receptors (Das and Dillon, ried out using membranes harvested from a stable cell line express- 2003). ing the 5-HT3A receptor. Briefly, HEK-293 cells stably expressing the In the present report, we sought to identify the molecular 5-HT3A receptor were grown as described previously (Das et al., determinants of PTX inhibition of 5-HT3 receptors. Although 2003) and harvested using the method described by Yagle et al. the precise location of PTX binding in anion-selective chan- (2003). Membranes were suspended in sodium phosphate buffer (200 ⅐ nels is unknown, evidence indicates it acts at the cytoplasmic mM NaCl and 50 mM NaH2PO4 2H2O, pH 7.4) such that the final aspect of the highly conserved TM2 domain (Fig. 1) (Ffrench- concentration was approximately 2 mg/ml and stored at Ϫ80°C. Constant et al., 1993; Gurley et al., 1995; Buhr et al., 2001; Initial saturation experiments using tissue harvested from the sta- ble cell line suggested high Bmax values. Thus, relatively low amount Shan et al., 2001; Dibas et al., 2002). Because the mechanism Downloaded from of protein was used for subsequent assays. For experiments using of block by PTX appears comparable in anion-selective and [3H]GR65630, tissue was thawed and diluted in sodium phosphate 5-HT3 receptors and because the TM2 domain of the 5-HT3 buffer, and a fixed concentration of protein (5–12 g) was added to receptor shares notable homology with the GABAA receptor varying concentrations of the radioligand (0.8–20 nM). Nonspecific (Fig. 1), we focused on this region as the probable site of binding was defined using 10 M m-CPBG. Final volumes for all action of PTX in 5-HT3 receptors. In the present study, we assays were 250 l. Samples were incubated in borosilicate glass Ј Ј demonstrate that the 6 and 7 positions of TM2 are major tubes for 30 min at 37°C, reaction was terminated by addition of jpet.aspetjournals.org determinants of PTX sensitivity in the 5-HT3 receptor. ice-cold sodium phosphate buffer, and bound ligand was separated from free using a Millipore 12-well manifold vacuum filtration sys- tem (Millipore Corporation, Billerica, MA). Saturation experiments Materials and Methods using [3H]EBOB were carried out using a similar protocol as de- Materials. 5-HT, m-CPBG, and PTX were purchased from Sigma- scribed above. In this case, nonspecific binding was defined using 100 Aldrich (St. Louis, MO). [3H]GR65630 (85.5 Ci/mmol) and [3H]EBOB M PTX, and samples were incubated at room temperature for 90 (38 Ci/mmol) were purchased from PerkinElmer Life and Analytical min. All assays were performed in triplicate, and a minimum of three Sciences (Boston, MA). 5-HT and m-CPBG stocks were made in experiments was carried out for each saturation assay. Radioactivity at ASPET Journals on January 18, 2020 was measured using liquid scintillation (PerkinElmer Life and An- ultrapure H2O. PTX was made in dimethylsulfoxide and diluted in extracellular saline solution so that the final dimethylsulfoxide con- alytical Sciences). Data analysis was performed using Origin 5.0 centration (v/v) was Ͻ0.3%. Primers for mutations were synthesized (Yagle et al., 2003). at IDT, Inc. (Coralville, IA). Electrophysiological Recordings. Whole-cell recordings were Cell Culture, Site-Directed Mutagenesis, and Expression of performed as described previously (Bell-Horner et al., 2000). Patch pipettes were pulled from thin-walled borosilicate glass using a 5-HT3 Receptor cDNA. Mouse 5-HT3A (GenBank accession no. horizontal micropipette puller (P-87/PC; Sutter Instrument Com- S41757) and 5-HT3B subunits (AAF73284, kindly provided by Dr.