MacMARCKS interacts with the metabotropic glutamate receptor type 7 and modulates G protein-mediated constitutive inhibition of calcium channels.

We have previously shown that the interaction of Ca2+/calmodulin with the metabotropic glutamate receptor type 7 (mGluR7) promotes the G-protein-mediated inhibition of voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels (VSCCs) seen upon agonist activation. Here, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen of a new-born rat brain cDNA library using the cytoplasmic C-terminal tail of mGluR7 as bait and identified macrophage myristoylated alanine-rich c-kinase substrate (MacMARCKS) as a binding protein. The interaction was confirmed in vitro and in vivo by pull-down assays, immunoprecipitation, and colocalization of mGluR7 and MacMARCKS in transfected HEK293 cells and cultured cerebellar granule cells. Binding of MacMARCKS to mGluR7 was antagonized by Ca2+/calmodulin. In neurons, cotransfection of MacMARCKS with mGluR7, but not mGluR7 mutants unable to bind MacMARCKS, reduced the G-protein-mediated tonic inhibition of VSCCs in the absence of mGluR7 agonist. These results suggest that competitive interactions of Ca2+/calmodulin and MacMARCKS with mGluR7 control the tonic inhibition of VSCCs by G-proteins.

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