A cAMP Biosensor-Based High-Throughput Screening Assay for Identification of Gs-Coupled GPCR Ligands and Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors

    12 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) is an important second messenger, and quantification of intracellular cAMP levels is essential in studies of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The intracellular cAMP levels are regulated by the adenylate cyclase (AC) upon activation of either Gs- or Gi-coupled GPCRs, which leads to increased or decreased cAMP levels, respectively. Here we describe a real-time Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based cAMP high-throughput screening (HTS) assay for identification and characterization of Gs-coupled GPCR ligands and phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors in living cells. We used the β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) as a representative Gs-coupled receptor and characterized two cell lines with different expression levels. Low receptor expression allowed detection of desensitization kinetics and delineation of partial agonism, whereas high receptor expression resulted in prolonged signaling and enabled detection of weak partial agonists and/or ligands with low potency, which is highly advantageous in large HTS settings and hit identification. In addition, the assay enabled detection of β2AR inverse agonists and PDE inhibitors. High signal-to-noise ratios were also observed for the other representative Gs-coupled GPCRs tested, GLP-1R and GlucagonR. The FRET-based cAMP biosensor assay is robust, reproducible, and inexpensive with good Z factors and is highly applicable for HTS.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalJournal of Biomolecular Screening
    Volume20
    Pages (from-to)849-857
    Number of pages9
    ISSN1087-0571
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 25 Aug 2015

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