The β 1-adrenoceptor (β 1 AR) is a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that couples 1 to the heterotrimeric G protein G s. G-protein-mediated signalling is terminated by phosphorylation of the C terminus of the receptor by GPCR kinases (GRKs) and by coupling of β-arrestin 1 (βarr1, also known as arrestin 2), which displaces G s and induces signalling through the MAP kinase pathway 2. The ability of synthetic agonists to induce signalling preferentially through either G proteins or arrestins-known as biased agonism 3-is important in drug development, because the therapeutic effect may arise from only one signalling cascade, whereas the other pathway may mediate undesirable side effects 4. To understand the molecular basis for arrestin coupling, here we ✉

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The human complement component, C5a, binds two different seven-transmembrane receptors termed C5aR1 and C5aR2. C5aR1 is a prototypical G-protein-coupled receptor that couples to the G␣ i subfamily of heterotrimeric G-proteins and ␤-arrestins (␤arrs) following C5a stimulation. Peptide fragments derived from the C terminus of C5a can still interact with the receptor, albeit with lower affinity, and can act as agonists or antagonists. However, whether such fragments might display ligand bias at C5aR1 remains unexplored. Here, we compare C5a and a modified C-terminal fragment of C5a, C5a pep , in terms of G-protein coupling, ␤arr recruitment, endocytosis, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation at the human C5aR1. We discover that C5a pep acts as a full agonist for G␣ i coupling as measured by cAMP response and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 phosphorylation, but it displays partial agonism for ␤arr recruitment and receptor endocytosis. Interestingly, C5a pep exhibits full-agonist efficacy with respect to inhibiting lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin-6 secretion in human macrophages, but its ability to induce human neutrophil migration is substantially lower compared with C5a, although both these responses are sensitive to pertussis toxin treatment. Taken together, our data reveal that compared with C5a, C5a pep exerts partial efficacy for ␤arr recruitment, receptor trafficking, and neutrophil migration. Our findings therefore uncover functional bias at C5aR1 and also provide a framework that can potentially be extended to chemokine receptors, which also typically interact with chemokines through a biphasic mechanism. cro ARTICLE

β‐arrestins (βarrs) are key regulators of G protein‐coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling and trafficking, and their knockdown typically leads to a decrease in agonist‐induced ERK1/2 MAP kinase activation. Interestingly, for some GPCRs, knockdown of βarr1 augments agonist‐induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation although a mechanistic basis for this intriguing phenomenon is unclear. Here, we use selected GPCRs to explore a possible correlation between the spatial positioning of receptor phosphorylation sites and the contribution of βarr1 in ERK1/2 activation. We discover that engineering a spatially positioned double‐phosphorylation‐site cluster in the bradykinin receptor (B2R), analogous to that present in the vasopressin receptor (V2R), reverses the contribution of βarr1 in ERK1/2 activation from inhibitory to promotive. An intrabody sensor suggests a conformational mechanism for this role reversal of βarr1, and molecular dynamics simulation reveals a bifurcated salt bridge between this double‐phosphorylation site cluster and Lys294 in the lariat loop of βarr1, which directs the orientation of the lariat loop. Our findings provide novel insights into the opposite roles of βarr1 in ERK1/2 activation for different GPCRs with a direct relevance to biased agonism and novel therapeutics.