Post-translational proteolytic processing of the calcium-independent receptor of alpha-latrotoxin (CIRL), a natural chimera of the cell adhesion protein and the G protein-coupled receptor. Role of the G protein-coupled receptor proteolysis site (GPS) motif.

The calcium-independent receptor of alpha-latrotoxin (CIRL), a neuronal cell surface receptor implicated in the regulation of exocytosis, is a natural chimera of the cell adhesion protein and the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). In contrast with canonic GPCRs, CIRL consists of two heterologous non-covalently bound subunits, p120 and p85, due to endogenous proteolytic processing of the receptor precursor in the endoplasmic reticulum. Extracellularly oriented p120 contains hydrophilic cell adhesion domains, whereas p85 resembles a generic GPCR. We determined that the site of the CIRL cleavage is located within a juxtamembrane Cys- and Trp-rich domain of the N-terminal extracellular region of CIRL. Mutations in this domain make CIRL resistant to the cleavage and impair its trafficking. Therefore, we have named it GPS for G protein-coupled receptor proteolysis site. The GPS motif is found in homologous adhesion GPCRs and thus defines a novel receptor family. We postulate that the proteolytic processing and two-subunit structure is a common characteristic feature in the family of GPS-containing adhesion GPCRs.