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Characterization of Relaxin Receptor (RXFP1) Desensitization and Internalization in Primary Human Decidual Cells and RXFP1-Transfected HEK293 Cells

The Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Andras Kern, Developmental and Reproductive Biology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, 651 Ilalo Street, Bioscience Building, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813. E-mail: kerna{at}pbrc.hawaii.edu.

We report here the desensitization and internalization of the relaxin receptor (RXFP1) after agonist activation in both primary human decidual cells and HEK293 cells stably transfected with RXFP1. The importance of β-arrestin 2 in these processes has also been demonstrated. Thus, in HEK-RXFP1 cells the desensitization of RXFP1 was significantly increased when β-arrestin 2 was overexpressed. After relaxin activation, β-arrestin 2 was translocated to the cell membrane and RXFP1 underwent rapid internalization. We have previously shown that RXFP1 forms dimers/oligomers during its biosynthesis and trafficking to the plasma membrane, we now show that internalization of RXFP1 occurs through this dimerization/oligomerization. In nonagonist stimulated cells, it is known that the majority of the RXFP1 is located intracellularly and was confirmed in the cells used here. Constitutive internalization of RXFP1 could account for this and indeed, slow but robust constitutive internalization, which was increased after agonist stimulation was demonstrated. A carboxyl-terminal deleted RXFP1 variant had a similar level of constitutive agonist-independent internalization as the wild-type RXFP1 but lost sensitivity to agonist stimulation. This demonstrated the importance of the carboxyl terminus in agonist-stimulated receptor internalization. These data suggest that the autocrine/paracrine actions of relaxin in the decidua are under additional controls at the level of expression of its receptor on the surface of its target cells.