Differential effects of membrane sphingomyelin and cholesterol on agonist-induced bitter taste receptor T2R14 signaling.

Membrane lipids regulate the structure and function of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Previously we have shown that membrane cholesterol regulates the signaling of two human bitter taste receptors (T2Rs), T2R4 and T2R14. Another major plasma membrane lipid known to influence the function of membrane proteins including GPCRs is sphingomyelin. The role of sphingomyelin in T2R function is unexplored thus far. In this work, we examined the significance of sphingomyelin in T2R14 signaling. Results suggest that unavailability of membrane sphingomyelin did not affect the agonist-promoted T2R14 Ca²⁺ signaling in heterologous expression system and also in primary airway smooth muscle cells (HASM cells). In addition, T2R14 mediated downstream AMPK activation was also unaffected in sphingomyelin-depleted condition; however, cholesterol depletion impaired the T2R14-mediated AMPK activation. Angiotensin II type1A receptor (AT₁R) expressed in HASM cells and signals through Ca²⁺ and AMPK was used as a control. Results suggest that similar to T2R14, membrane sphingomyelin depletion did not affect AT₁R signaling. However, membrane cholesterol depletion impaired AT₁R mediated Ca²⁺ signaling and AMPK activation. Interestingly, amino acid sequence analysis revealed the presence of putative sphingolipid binding motif in both T2R14 and AT₁R suggesting that the presence of a motif alone might not be suggestive of sphingomyelin sensitivity. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that in contrast to membrane cholesterol, sphingomyelin does not affect the agonist-induced T2R14 signaling, however it may play a role in other aspects of T2R14 function.

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