Gastrin-releasing peptide receptor-induced internalization, down-regulation, desensitization, and growth: possible role for cyclic AMP.

Stimulation of the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRP-R) in Swiss 3T3 cells resembles that of a number of other recently described G protein-coupled receptors, insofar as both the phospholipase C and adenylyl cyclase signal transduction pathways are activated. GRP-R activation induces numerous alterations in both the cell and the receptor, but because two signal transduction pathways are activated it is difficult to determine the specific contributions of either pathway. We have found that BALB/3T3 fibroblasts transfected with the coding sequence for the GRP-R are pharmacologically indistinguishable from native receptor-expressing cells and activate phospholipase C in a manner similar to that of the native receptor but fail to increase cAMP in response to bombesin; thus, they may be useful cells to explore the role of activation of each pathway in altering cell and receptor function. Swiss 3T3 cells and GRP-R-transfected BALB/3T3 cells expressed identically glycosylated receptors that bound various agonists and antagonists similarly. G protein activation, as determined by evaluation of agonist-induced activation of phospholipase C and by analysis of the effect of guanosine-5'-(beta,gamma-imido)triphosphate on GRP-R binding affinity, was indistinguishable. Agonist stimulation of GRP-R caused similar receptor changes (internalization and down-regulation) and homologous desensitization in both cell types. Bombesin stimulation of Swiss 3T3 cells that had been preincubated with forskolin increased cAMP levels 9-fold, but no bombesin-specific increase in cAMP levels was detected in transfected cells, even though forskolin and cholera toxin increased cAMP levels in these cells. Quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells treated with bombesin rapidly increased c-fos mRNA levels and [3H]thymidine incorporation, whereas both effects were potentiated by forskolin. The specific protein kinase A inhibitor H-89 blocked increases in c-fos levels and [3H]thymidine incorporation induced by low concentrations of bombesin. GRP-R-transfected BALB/3T3 cells increased c-fos mRNA levels and [3H]thymidine incorporation with the addition of serum but not bombesin. These data suggest that bombesin-stimulated increases in cellular levels of cAMP appear not to be an important mediator of GRP-R internalization, down-regulation, or desensitization but do play an important role in bombesin-induced mitogenesis.