Publications by authors named "Melanie S Johnson"

The 5-HT2AR (5-hydroxytryptamine-2A receptor) is a GPCR (G-protein-coupled receptor) that is implicated in the actions of hallucinogens and represents a major target of atypical antipsychotic agents. In addition to its classical signalling though PLC (phospholipase C), the receptor can activate several other pathways, including ARF (ADP-ribosylation factor)-dependent activation of PLD (phospholipase D), which appears to be achieved through a mechanism independent of heterotrimeric G-proteins. In the present study we show that wild-type and inactive constructs of PLD1 (but not PLD2) respectively facilitate and inhibit ARF-dependent PLD signalling by the 5-HT2AR.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how a specific mutation (N376 to D) in the 5-HT2A receptor's carboxy terminal tail domain affects its binding to ARF proteins, switching preference from ARF1 to ARF6.
  • Experiments using COS7 cells revealed that the wild type receptor's signaling was inhibited by ARF1 but not ARF6, while the N376D mutant's responses were strongly affected by ARF6.
  • The findings indicate that the specific amino acid present in the conserved NPxxY motif influences which ARF isoform interacts with the 5-HT2A receptor, highlighting a broader relevance for other GPCRs with similar motifs.
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The 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) is a member of the class I family of rhodopsin-related G protein-coupled receptors. The receptor is known to activate phospholipase C via the heterotrimeric G proteins Gq/11, but we showed previously that it can also signal through the phospholipase D (PLD) pathway in an ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF)-dependent manner that seems to be independent of Gq/11 (Mitchell et al., 1998).

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G protein-coupled receptors can potentially activate phospholipase D (PLD) by a number of routes. We show here that the native M3 muscarinic receptor in 1321N1 cells and an epitope-tagged M3 receptor expressed in COS7 cells substantially utilize an ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF)-dependent route of PLD activation. This pathway is activated at the plasma membrane but appears to be largely independent of G, phospholipase C, Ca2+ q/11, protein kinase C, tyrosine kinases, and phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase.

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In HEK-293 cells, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) was found to induce cAMP production showing pharmacological characteristics consistent with the 5-HT(7) receptor. The presence of 5-HT(7) (and 5-HT(6)) receptor mRNA was confirmed by RT-PCR. Stable HEK-293 cell lines expressing either wild-type or haemagglutinin (HA)-tagged human 5-HT transporter (SERT) were selected and SERT function was confirmed using [3H]5-HT transport.

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