A selective inverse agonist for central cannabinoid receptor inhibits mitogen-activated protein kinase activation stimulated by insulin or insulin-like growth factor 1. Evidence for a new model of receptor/ligand interactions.

In the present study, we showed that Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with human central cannabinoid receptor (CB1) exhibit high constitutive activity at both levels of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and adenylyl cyclase. These activities could be blocked by the CB1-selective ligand, SR 141716A, that functions as an inverse agonist. Moreover, binding studies showed that guanine nucleotides decreased the binding of the agonist CP-55,940, an effect usually observed with agonists, whereas it enhanced the binding of SR 141716A, a property of inverse agonists. Unexpectedly, we found that CB1-mediated effects of SR 141716A included inhibition of MAPK activation by pertussis toxin-sensitive receptor-tyrosine kinase such as insulin or insulin-like growth factor 1 receptors but not by pertussis toxin-insensitive receptor-tyrosine kinase such as the fibroblast growth factor receptor. We also observed similar results when cells were stimulated with Mas-7, a mastoparan analog, that directly activates the Gi protein. Furthermore, SR 141716A inhibited guanosine 5'-0-(thiotriphosphate) uptake induced by CP-55,940 or Mas-7 in CHO-CB1 cell membranes. This indicates that, in addition to the inhibition of autoactivated CB1, SR 141716A can deliver a biological signal that blocks the Gi protein and consequently abrogates most of the Gi-mediated responses. By contrast, SR 141716A had no effect on MAPK activation by insulin or IGF1 in CHO cells lacking CB1 receptors, ruling out the possibility of a direct interaction of SR 141716A with the Gi protein. This supports the notion that the Gi protein may act as a negative intracellular signaling cross-talk molecule. From these original results, which considerably enlarge the biological properties of the inverse agonist, we propose a novel model for receptor/ligand interactions.