Studies of the molecular mechanisms of action of relaxin on the adenylyl cyclase signaling system using synthetic peptides derived from the LGR7 relaxin receptor.

The peptide hormone relaxin produces dose-dependent stimulation of adenylyl cyclase activity in rat tissues (striatum, cardiac and skeletal muscle) and the muscle tissues of invertebrates, i.e., the bivalve mollusk Anodonta cygnea and the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris, adenylyl cyclase stimulation being more marked in the rat striatum and cardiac muscle. Our studies of the type of relaxin receptor involved in mediating these actions of relaxin involved the first synthesis of peptides 619–629, 619–629-Lys(Palm), and 615–629, which are derivatives of the primary structure of the C-terminal part of the third cytoplasmic loop of the type 1 relaxin receptor (LGR7). Peptides 619–629-Lys(Palm) and 615–629 showed competitive inhibition of adenylyl cyclase stimulation by relaxin in rat striatum and cardiac muscle but had no effect on the action of relaxin in rat skeletal muscle or invertebrate muscle, which is evidence for the tissue and species specificity of their actions. On the one hand, this indicates involvement of the LGR7 receptor in mediating the adenylyl cyclase-stimulating action of relaxin in rat striatum and cardiac muscle and, on the other, demonstrates the existence of other adenylyl cyclase signal mechanisms for the actions of relaxin in rat skeletal muscle and invertebrate muscle, not involving LGR7 receptors. The adenylyl cyclase-stimulating effect of relaxin in the striatum and cardiac muscles was found to be decreased in the presence of C-terminal peptide 385–394 of the αs subunit of the mammalian G protein and to be blocked by treatment of membranes with cholera toxin. These data provide evidence that in the striatum and cardiac muscle, relaxin stimulates adenylyl cyclase via the LGR7 receptor, this being functionally linked with Gs protein. It is also demonstrated that linkage of relaxin-activated LGR7 receptor with the Gs protein is mediated by interaction of the C-terminal half of the third cytoplasmic loop of the receptor with the C-terminal segment of the αs subunit of the G protein.