Identification and functional characterisation of N-linked glycosylation of the orphan G protein-coupled receptor Gpr176

Sci Rep. 2020 Mar 10;10(1):4429. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61370-y.

Abstract

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are important drug targets with diverse therapeutic applications. However, there are still more than a hundred orphan GPCRs, whose protein functions and biochemical features remain unidentified. Gpr176 encodes a class-A orphan GPCR that has a role in circadian clock regulation in mouse hypothalamus and is also implicated in human breast cancer transcriptional response. Here we show that Gpr176 is N-glycosylated. Peptide-N-glycosidase treatment of mouse hypothalamus extracts revealed that endogenous Gpr176 undergoes N-glycosylation. Using a heterologous expression system, we show that N-glycosylation occurs at four conserved asparagine residues in the N-terminal region of Gpr176. Deficient N-glycosylation due to mutation of these residues reduced the protein expression of Gpr176. At the molecular function level, Gpr176 has constitutive, agonist-independent activity that leads to reduced cAMP synthesis. Although deficient N-glycosylation did not compromise this intrinsic activity, the resultant reduction in protein expression was accompanied by attenuation of cAMP-repressive activity in the cells. We also demonstrate that human GPR176 is N-glycosylated. Importantly, missense variations in the conserved N-glycosylation sites of human GPR176 (rs1473415441; rs761894953) affected N-glycosylation and thereby attenuated protein expression and cAMP-repressive activity in the cells. We show that N-glycosylation is a prerequisite for the efficient protein expression of functional Gpr176/GPR176.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Cyclic AMP / metabolism*
  • Glycoside Hydrolases / metabolism
  • Glycosylation
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / physiology*
  • Sequence Homology
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • Gpr176 protein, mouse
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
  • Cyclic AMP
  • Glycoside Hydrolases