CCK receptor phosphorylation exposes regulatory domains affecting phosphorylation and receptor trafficking

Hyperinsulinemia acts via acinar insulin receptors to initiate pancreatic cancer by increasing digestive enzyme production and inflammation

The rising pancreatic cancer incidence due to obesity and type 2 diabetes is closely tied to hyperinsulinemia, an independent cancer risk factor. Previous studies demonstrated reducing insulin production suppressed pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) pre-cancerous lesions in Kras-mutant mice. However, the pathophysiological and molecular mechanisms remained unknown, and in particular it was unclear whether hyperinsulinemia affected PanIN precursor cells directly or indirectly. Here, we demonstrate that insulin receptors (Insr) in KrasG12D-expressing pancreatic acinar cells are dispensable for glucose homeostasis but necessary for hyperinsulinemia-driven PanIN formation in the context of diet-induced hyperinsulinemia and obesity. Mechanistically, this was attributed to amplified digestive enzyme protein translation, triggering of local inflammation, and PanIN metaplasia in vivo. In vitro, insulin dose-dependently increased acinar-to-ductal metaplasia formation in a trypsin- and Insr-dependent manner. Collectively, our data shed light on the mechanisms connecting obesity-driven hyperinsulinemia and pancreatic cancer development.

Structural basis of cholecystokinin receptor binding and regulation

Two structurally-related guanine nucleotide-binding protein-coupled receptors for two related peptides, cholecystokinin (CCK) and gastrin, have evolved to exhibit substantial diversity in specificity of ligand recognition, in their molecular basis of binding these ligands, and in their mechanisms of biochemical and cellular regulation. Consistent with this, the CCK1 and CCK2 receptors also play unique and distinct roles in physiology and pathophysiology. The paradigms for ligand recognition and receptor regulation and function are reviewed in this article, and should be broadly applicable to many members of this remarkable receptor superfamily. This degree of specialization is instructive and provides an encouraging basis for the diversity of potential drugs targeting these receptors and their actions that can be developed.

Cholecystokinin and gastrin receptors

Cholecystokinin and gastrin receptors (CCK1R and CCK2R) are G protein-coupled receptors that have been the subject of intensive research in the last 10 years with corresponding advances in the understanding of their functioning and physiology. In this review, we first describe general properties of the receptors, such as the different signaling pathways used to exert short- and long-term effects and the structural data that explain their binding properties, activation, and regulation. We then focus on peripheral cholecystokinin receptors by describing their tissue distribution and physiological actions. Finally, pathophysiological peripheral actions of cholecystokinin receptors and their relevance in clinical disorders are reviewed.

Mutation of the phosphorylatable residue Thr429 in Glu of the human VPAC1 led to a constitutively desensitized receptor

The hVPAC1 receptor is rapidly phosphorylated and internalized by agonists but not re-expressed at the membrane after washing. Mutation of Ser/Thr residues in the C-terminus reduced phosphorylation but not internalization that was abolished only when all the phosphorylatable residues were mutated. Substitution of Thr429 by Glu mimicking a phosphothreonin led to a mutant with unchanged binding properties, decreased coupling to adenylate cyclase consisting in a reduced VIP potency, increased basal and VIP stimulated phosphorylation, preserved internalization followed by a rapid receptor re-expression. These are the expected characteristics of a constitutively desensitized receptor, putting forward the role of Thr429 phosphorylation in that process.

Contribution of the carboxyl terminus of the VPAC1 receptor to agonist-induced receptor phosphorylation, internalization, and recycling

When exposed to vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), the human wild type VPAC1 receptor expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells is rapidly phosphorylated, desensitized, and internalized in the endosomal compartment and is not re-expressed at the cell membrane within 2 h after agonist removal. The aims of the present work were first to correlate receptor phosphorylation level to internalization and recycling, measured by flow cytometry and in some cases by confocal microscopy using a monoclonal antibody that did not interfere with ligand binding, and second to identify the phosphorylated Ser/Thr residues. Combining receptor mutations and truncations allowed identification of Ser250 (in the second intracellular loop), Thr429, Ser435, Ser448 or Ser449, and Ser455 (all in the distal part of the C terminus) as candidates for VIP-stimulated phosphorylation. The effects of single mutations were not additive, suggesting alternative phosphorylation sites in mutated receptors. Replacement of all of the Ser/Thr residues in the carboxyl-terminal tail and truncation of the domain containing these residues completely inhibited VIP-stimulated phosphorylation and receptor internalization. There was, however, no direct correlation between receptor phosphorylation and internalization; in some truncated and mutated receptors, a 70% reduction in phosphorylation had little effect on internalization. In contrast to results obtained on the wild type and all of the mutated or truncated receptors that still underwent phosphorylation, internalization of the severely truncated receptor was reversed within 2 h of incubation in the absence of the agonist. Receptor recovery was blocked by monensin, an endosome inhibitor.

Parathyroid hormone receptor recycling: role of receptor dephosphorylation and beta-arrestin

The recovery of PTH receptor (PTHR) function after acute homologous receptor desensitization and down-regulation in bone and kidney cells has been attributed to receptor recycling. To determine the role of receptor dephosphorylation in PTHR recycling, we performed morphological and functional assays on human embryonic kidney 293 cells stably expressing wild-type (wt) or mutant PTHRs. Confocal microscopy and ligand binding assays revealed that the wt PTHR is rapidly recycled back to the plasma membrane after removal of the agonist. Receptors that were engineered to either lack the sites of phosphorylation or to resemble constitutively phosphorylated receptors were able to recycle back to the plasma membrane with the same kinetics as the wt PTHR. The PTHR was found to be dephosphorylated by an enzyme apparently distinct from protein phosphatases 1 or 2A. The PTHR and beta-arrestin-2-green fluorescent protein (GFP) were found to stably colocalize during PTHR internalization, whereas after agonist removal and during receptor recycling, the colocalization slowly disappeared. Experiments using phosphorylation-deficient PTHRs and a dominant-negative form of beta-arrestin showed that beta-arrestin does not regulate the efficiency of PTHR recycling. These studies indicate that, unlike many G protein-coupled receptors, PTHR recycling does not require receptor dephosphorylation or its dissociation from beta-arrestin.

Impaired resensitization and recycling of the cholecystokinin receptor by co-expression of its second intracellular loop

Intermolecular interaction represents an important theme in regulation of intracellular trafficking of organelles that can be interrupted by competitive overexpression of a relevant molecular domain. We attempted to identify the functional importance of intracellular domains of the cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor by their over-expression in receptor-bearing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-CCKR) cell lines. Although clathrin-dependent endocytosis and recycling of this receptor are well-established (J Cell Biol 128:1029-1042, 1995), any influence of distinct receptor domains is not understood. In this work, constructs representing each of the intracellular domains of the CCK receptor were coexpressed with wild-type receptor, and stable clonal cell lines were selected. Each was characterized for ligand binding and agonist-stimulated biological activity (inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate generation), desensitization, resensitization, receptor internalization, and recycling. Each cell line expressed normal CCK radioligand binding, signaling, internalization, and desensitization. Three independent cell lines that coexpressed the 25-residue second intracellular loop domain exhibited deficient resensitization. In morphological assessment of receptor trafficking, this construct was also shown to interfere with receptor recycling to the plasma membrane. As a control, recycling of an unrelated G protein-coupled receptor was demonstrated to occur normally in this cell line. These observations suggest that rather than representing passive cargo within an endosome, a receptor can influence its own trafficking within the cell.