The functional recombinant first extracellular (EC1) domain of PACAP receptor PAC1 normal form (PAC1-EC1(N)) recognizes selective ligands and stimulates the proliferation of PAC1-CHO cells

PAC1 is a pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) preferring receptor, which is abundant in the central and peripheral nervous systems. PAC1 belongs to the class B family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The N-terminal first extracellular (EC1) domain of PAC1 is responsible for ligand recognition and binding. In this study, the recombinant EC1 domain of the PAC1 normal (N) form (amino acids 21–155) with 6His tag at the C-terminus (named PAC1-EC1(N)) was first expressed in an Escherichia coli strain and purified by an Ni-NTA affinity column. About 6–8 mg of recombinant PAC1-EC1(N) protein with purity above 95% was produced from 1 L of bacterial culture. Mass spectrum and western blot were used to identify the recombinant PAC1-EC1(N). Intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence (ITF) assays showed that the purified PAC1-EC1(N) protein was able to recognize and bind to the PAC1 selective agonist maxadilan, the antagonist M65 and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). Maxadilan and M65 had higher affinities for PAC1-EC1(N) than VIP. The results of MTT assays showed that PAC1-EC1(N) stimulated the viability of PAC-CHO cells but blocked the effects of maxadilan on the proliferation of CHO cells expressing PAC1 (PAC1-CHO), indicating that the functional soluble PAC1-EC1(N) may act as a regulator for the activation of PAC1.