Phylogenetic analysis of 277 human G-protein-coupled receptors as a tool for the prediction of orphan receptor ligands

Abstract

Background: G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest and most diverse family of transmembrane receptors. They respond to a wide range of stimuli, including small peptides, lipid analogs, amino-acid derivatives, and sensory stimuli such as light, taste and odor, and transmit signals to the interior of the cell through interaction with heterotrimeric G proteins. A large number of putative GPCRs have no identified natural ligand. We hypothesized that a more complete knowledge of the phylogenetic relationship of these orphan receptors to receptors with known ligands could facilitate ligand identification, as related receptors often have ligands with similar structural features.

Results: A database search excluding olfactory and gustatory receptors was used to compile a list of accession numbers and synonyms of 81 orphan and 196 human GPCRs with known ligands. Of these, 241 sequences belonging to the rhodopsin receptor-like family A were aligned and a tentative phylogenetic tree constructed by neighbor joining. This tree and local alignment tools were used to define 19 subgroups of family A small enough for more accurate maximum-likelihood analyses. The secretin receptor-like family B and metabotropic glutamate receptor-like family C were directly subjected to these methods.

Conclusions: Our trees show the overall relationship of 277 GPCRs with emphasis on orphan receptors. Support values are given for each branch. This approach may prove valuable for identification of the natural ligands of orphan receptors as their relation to receptors with known ligands becomes more evident.

Figure 1

An example multiple sequence alignment of seven receptors. Protein sequences of GPR87, KI01, GPR86, P2Y12, H963, GPR34 and PAFR belonging to subgroup 12 were aligned with ClustalX and modified by deleting the extremely variable amino termini upstream of the first transmembrane domain and carboxyl termini downstream of the seventh transmembrane domain as indicated. Identical amino-acid residues in all aligned sequences are shaded in black and similar residues in gray. Transmembrane (TM) domains identified by the TMpred program are indicated.

Figure 2

Neighbor-joining tree of the rhodopsin receptor-like family A inferred from the multiple sequence alignment using PHYLIP 3.6. Support values for each internal branch were obtained by 1,000 bootstrap steps, and are indicated. Pairwise distances were determined with PROTDIST and the JTT substitution frequency matrix. The tree was calculated with NEIGHBOR using standard parameters and rooted with the distant, though related, family-B receptor GPRC5B as the outgroup. The consensus tree of all bootstrapped sequences was obtained with CONSENSE. Orphan receptors are shown in bold. Scale bar indicates the branch length of 100 substitutions per site.

Figure 3

Chemokine receptors (subgroups A1 and A2). Phylogenetic trees of the subgroups were inferred using Puzzle 5.0 corrected by the JTT substitution frequency matrix. Quartet-puzzling support percentage values from 10,000 puzzling steps are shown. The scale bars indicate a maximum likelihood branch length of 0.1 inferred substitutions per site. Orphan receptors are shaded.

Figure 4

Peptide receptors (subgroups A3-A10). The scale bar indicates a maximum likelihood branch length of 0.1 inferred substitutions per site. Orphan receptors are shaded. For method see Figure 2

Figure 5

Nucleotide and lipid receptors (subgroups A11-A16). The scale bar indicates a maximum-likelihood branch length of 0.1 inferred substitutions per site. Orphan receptors are shaded. For method see Figure 2.

Figure 6

Biogenic amine receptors (subgroups A17-A19). The scale bar indicates a maximum-likelihood branch length of 0.1 inferred substitutions per site. Orphan receptors are shaded. For method see Figure 2.

Figure 7

Families B and C of the G-protein-coupled receptors (GPRCs). Phylogenetic trees of families B and C were inferred using Puzzle 5.0 corrected by the JTT substitution frequency matrix. Quartet-puzzling support percentage values from 10,000 puzzling steps are shown. The scale bar indicates a maximum likelihood branch length of 0.1 inferred substitutions per site. Orphan receptors are shaded.