Histamine regulates neurotransmitter release in the central and peripheral nervous systems through H3 presynaptic receptors. The existence of the histamine H3 receptor was demonstrated pharmacologically 15 years ago, yet despite intensive efforts, its molecular identity has remained elusive. As part of a directed effort to discover novel G protein-coupled receptors through homology searching of expressed sequence tag databases, we identified a partial clone (GPCR97) that had significant homology to biogenic amine receptors. The GPCR97 clone was used to probe a human thalamus library, which resulted in the isolation of a full-length clone encoding a putative G protein-coupled receptor. Homology analysis showed the highest similarity to M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors and overall low homology to all other biogenic amine receptors. Transfection of GPCR97 into a variety of cell lines conferred an ability to inhibit forskolin-stimulated cAMP formation in response to histamine, but not to acetylcholine or any other biogenic amine. Subsequent analysis revealed a pharmacological profile practically indistinguishable from that for the histamine H3 receptor. In situ hybridization in rat brain revealed high levels of mRNA in all neuronal systems (such as the cerebral cortex, the thalamus, and the caudate nucleus) previously associated with H3 receptor function. Its widespread and abundant neuronal expression in the brain highlights the significance of histamine as a general neurotransmitter modulator. The availability of the human H3 receptor cDNA should greatly aid in the development of chemical and biological reagents, allowing a greater appreciation of the role of histamine in brain function.

Histamine is a multifunctional hormone that regulates smooth muscle contraction in the airways, acid secretion in the gut, and neurotransmitter release in the central nervous system through three well characterized receptor subtypes, H(1), H(2), H(3), respectively. As part of a directed effort to discover novel G-protein-coupled receptors through homology searching of genomic databases, we identified a partial clone (GPCR105) that had significant homology to the recently identified histamine H(3) receptor cDNA. Expression of the full-length human GPCR105 in cells confers the ability to bind [(3)H]histamine with high affinity (K(D) = 5 nM). GPCR105 is pharmacologically similar to the histamine H(3) receptor in that it binds many of the known H(3) agonists and antagonists, albeit with a different rank order of affinity/potency. GPCR105 does not bind (i.e., K(D) > 10 microM) all tested H(1) and H(2) receptor antagonists such as diphenhydramine, loratadine, ranitidine, and cimetidine, but has modest affinity for the H(2) receptor agonist, dimaprit (377 nM). Whereas the H(3) receptor is expressed almost exclusively in nervous tissues, GPRC105 is expressed primarily in bone marrow and eosinophils. Together, these data demonstrate that GPCR105 is a novel histamine receptor structurally and pharmacologically related to the H(3) receptor. However, its unique expression profile and physiological role suggest that GPCR105 is a fourth histamine receptor subtype (H(4)) and may be a therapeutic target for the regulation of immune function, particularly with respect to allergy and asthma.

Using a genomics-based reverse pharmacological approach for screening orphan G-protein coupled receptors, we have identified and cloned a novel high-affinity histamine receptor. This receptor, termed AXOR35, is most closely related to the H3 histamine receptor, sharing 37% protein sequence identity. A multiple responsive element/cyclic AMP-responsive element-luciferase reporter assay was used to identify histamine as a ligand for AXOR35. When transfected into human embryonic kidney 293 cells, the AXOR35 receptor showed a strong, dose-dependent calcium mobilization response to histamine and H3 receptor agonists including imetit and immepip. Radioligand binding confirmed that the AXOR35 receptor was a high-affinity histamine receptor. The pharmacology of the AXOR35 receptor was found to closely resemble that of the H3 receptor; the major difference was that (R)-alpha-methylhistamine was a low potency agonist of the AXOR35 receptor. Thioperamide is an antagonist at AXOR 35. Expression of AXOR35 mRNA in human tissues is highest in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and in tissues likely to contain high concentrations of blood cells, such as bone marrow and lung. In situ hybridization analysis of a wide survey of mouse tissues showed that mouse AXOR35 mRNA is selectively expressed in hippocampus. The identification and localization of this new histamine receptor will expand our understanding of the physiological and pathological roles of histamine and may provide additional opportunities for pharmacological modification of these actions.

(9), and Ca 2ϩ influx into lymphocytes (10). 5-HT 3 receptor activation mediates emetic and inflammatory responses (11) and may contribute to pain reception, anxiety, cognition, cranial motor neuron activity, modulation of affect, and the behavioral consequences of drug abuse (Refs. 12 and 13; but see Ref. 14).The 5-HT 3A receptor subunit shares structural similarities with members of the superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels (15) and is thought to be a pentameric protein (16, 17) with multiple agonist and allosteric ligand binding sites (2, 11). Both native and recombinant 5-HT 3 receptors reveal rapid and cooperative activation by agonists and desensitization to prolonged application of 5-HT (reviewed in Refs. 1, 2, and 6). With a few exceptions, ligand-gated channels require the association of more than one kind of homologous subunit for function, and subunit composition determines the pharmacological (18) and kinetic (e.g. desensitization (19,20)) profile of heteromeric receptors. While the 5-HT 3A subunit expressed in heterologous systems functions efficiently as homomers, different voltagedependence, desensitization, and pharmacological properties between recombinant and native 5-HT 3 receptors suggest that native 5-HT 3 receptors may exist as heteromers (3,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). Although the 5-HT 3A gene encodes splice variants in mouse (28, 29) and guinea pig (30), most of the characteristics of these variants are similar (29,31,32), and the subtle pharmacological differences (22, 31, 32) cannot completely account for the differences observed between recombinant homomers and native 5-HT 3 receptors. In fact, co-expression of both splice variants in oocytes could not reproduce the responses observed in the cell line from which the splice variants were cloned (22). Biochemical studies on porcine brain have revealed the existence of at least four proteins (52-71 kDa) closely associated with the 5-HT 3A subunit that may represent antigenically distinct channel subunits (33).The cloning of a 5-HT 3B subunit that modified the pharmacological and single channel characteristics of the 5-HT 3A subunit when co-expressed in heterologous expression systems was recently reported (34). We extend this report and provide evidence for the co-existence of both 5-HT 3B and 5-HT 3A receptor subunits in native cells, a requirement for heteromeric association. We show that 5-HT 3B has no effect on the function of ␣2␤2, ␣3␤4, ␣4␤2, and ␣7 nicotinic ACh receptors. Furthermore, the characterization of the pharmacology and function of heteromeric receptors in Xenopus oocyte and mammalian expression systems reported here differs from that described (34), and these differences have important consequences for the function of heteromers in vivo.* The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.The nucleotide sequence (s) 1 The abbreviations used...

Following the discovery of the human histamine H4 receptor, a high throughput screen of our corporate compound collection identified compound 6 as a potential lead. Investigation of the SAR resulted in the discovery of novel compounds 10e and 10l, which are the first potent and selective histamine H4 receptor antagonists to be described.