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Functional significance of aromatic amino acids from three peptide loops of the α7 neuronal nicotinic receptor site investigated by site‐directed mutagenesis
Author(s) -
Galzi Jean-Luc,
Bertrand Daniel,
Devillers-Thiéry Anne,
Revah Frédéric,
Bertrand Sonia,
Changeux Jean-Pierre
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(91)80668-s
Subject(s) - nicotinic agonist , acetylcholine receptor , ganglion type nicotinic receptor , alpha 4 beta 2 nicotinic receptor , cys loop receptors , nicotinic acetylcholine receptor , chemistry , nicotinic antagonist , binding site , receptor , cholinergic , amino acid , acetylcholine , biochemistry , biology , biophysics , pharmacology , endocrinology
Three aromatic amino acids, Tyr 92 , Trp 148 and Tyr 187 belonging to three separate domains of the α7‐subunit of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor were mutated to phenylalanine, and the electrophysiological response of the resulting mutant receptors analyzed in the Xenopus oocyte expression system. All mutations significantly decreased the apparent affinities for acetylcholine and nicotine, and to a lesser extent, those for the competitive antagonists dihydro‐β‐erythroidine and α‐bungarotoxin. Other properties investigated, such as the voltage dependency of the ion response as well as its sensitivity to the open channel blocker QX222, were not significantly changed, indicating that the mutations affected selectively the recognition of cholinergic ligands by the receptor protein. The maximal rates for the rapid desensitization process were slightly modified, suggesting that the contribution of Tyr 92 , Trp 148 and Tyr 187 to the binding area might differ in the various conformations of the nicotinic receptor. Other mutations at nearby positions (S94N, W153F, G151D and G82E) did not affect the properties of the electrophysiological response. These data point to the functional significance of Tyr 92 , Trp 148 and Tyr 187 in the binding of cholinergic ligands and ion channel activation of the nicotinic receptor, thus supporting a multiple loop model [(1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 10430–10437] for the ligand binding area.