Related GPCRs couple differently to G _s : preassociation between G protein and 5‐HT ₇ serotonin receptor reveals movement of Gα _s upon receptor activation

Abstract

How GPCRs and G proteins interact is important for their biologic functions and their functions as pharmacologic targets. It is still an open question whether receptors and G proteins are preassembled in a complex or interact only after receptor activation. We compared the propensity of the two G s ‐coupled serotonin (5‐HT) receptors 5‐HT 4 and 5‐HT 7 to associate with G protein prior to agonist activation. Combining receptor‐immobilized fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and fluorescence resonance energy transfer methodologies, we observed that 5‐HT 7 receptors markedly reduced the diffusion of both Gα and Gβγ at the cell surface, which indicated 5‐HT 7 receptor preassociation with G s . This is in sharp contrast to the 5‐HT 4 receptor for which the diffusion of Gαβγ was not modified, and agonist activation brought together the receptor and Gγ, which is consistent with interaction by collision coupling. Agonist activation of 5‐HT 7 dissociated Gγ from the receptor, whereas Gα s underwent a rapid conformational change with respect to both Gγ and the receptor, followed by a slower dissociation of Gγ from both Gα s and the receptor. Taken together, these data demonstrate a different propensity among receptors to preassociate with G protein in the absence of ligand and reveals a rapid conformational change in Gα s upon activation by the receptor.—Andressen, K. W., Ulsund, A. H., Krobert, K. A., Lohse, M. J., Bünemannn M., Levy, F. O. Related GPCRs couple differently to G s : preassociation between G protein and 5‐HT 7 serotonin receptor reveals movement of Gα s upon receptor activation. FASEB J. 32, 1059–1069 (2018). www.fasebj.org