The calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor is a heterodimer of a family B G-protein-coupled receptor, calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CLR), and the accessory protein receptor activity modifying protein 1. It couples to G s , but it is not known which intracellular loops mediate this. We have identified the boundaries of this loop based on the relative position and length of the juxtamembrane transmembrane regions 3 and 4. The loop has been analyzed by systematic mutagenesis of all residues to alanine, measuring cAMP accumulation, CGRP affinity, and receptor expression. Unlike rhodopsin, ICL2 of the CGRP receptor plays a part in the conformational switch after agonist interaction. His-216 and Lys-227 were essential for a functional CGRP-induced cAMP response. The effect of (H216A)CLR is due to a disruption to the cell surface transport or surface stability of the mutant receptor. In contrast, (K227A)CLR had wild-type expression and agonist affinity, suggesting a direct disruption to the downstream signal transduction mechanism of the CGRP receptor. Modeling suggests that the loop undergoes a significant shift in position during receptor activation, exposing a potential G-protein binding pocket. Lys-227 changes position to point into the pocket, potentially allowing it to interact with bound G-proteins. His-216 occupies a position similar to that of Tyr-136 in bovine rhodopsin, part of the DRY motif of the latter receptor. This is the first comprehensive analysis of an entire intracellular loop within the calcitonin family of G-protein-coupled receptor. These data help to define the structural and functional characteristics of the CGRP-receptor and of family B G-proteincoupled receptors in general.
G-Protein coupled receptors (GPCRs)2 comprise a large superfamily of membrane-spanning proteins encoded by 2-3% of the human genome. These receptors respond to an incredibly diverse array of stimuli from odorants, amines, peptides, and light through a series of broadly similar activation mechanisms and accessory proteins. The pharmaceutical implications of understanding these proteins cannot be underestimated, and the crystal structure of rhodopsin has presented many new avenues of study for this family (1).Several structural and functional motifs are well characterized within the intracellular domains of the largest known family (A) of GPCRs. These include the conserved (D/E)R(Y/H) motif on the boundary between transmembrane helix 3 and the second intracellular loop (ICL2) and which is well documented to have a significant role in the activation mechanism (2) and the NPXXY motif of TM7, which can have diverse roles in the constitutive phosphorylation, internalization, and signaling of many family A GPCRs (3, 4). In addition, residues within ICL2 juxtaposed to transmembrane helix 3 have been shown to be involved in receptor stability (5).In contrast, much less is known about the important amino acids of family B receptors, which include the calcitonin family of receptors and which tend to bind larger peptide...