Phosphorylation and desensitization of human endothelin A and B receptors. Evidence for G protein-coupled receptor kinase specificity

Although endothelin-1 can elicit prolonged physiologic responses, accumulating evidence suggests that rapid desensitization affects the primary G protein-coupled receptors mediating these responses, the endothelin A and B receptors (ETA-R and ETB-R). The mechanisms by which this desensitization proceeds remain obscure, however. Because some intracellular domain sequences of the ETA-R and ETB-R differ substantially, we tested the possibility that these receptor subtypes might be differentially regulated by G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs). Homologous, or receptor-specific, desensitization occurred within 4 min both in the ETA-R-expressing A10 cells and in 293 cells transfected with either the human ETA-R or ETB-R. In 293 cells, this desensitization corresponded temporally with agonist-induced phosphorylation of each receptor, assessed by receptor immunoprecipitation from 32Pi-labeled cells. Agonist-induced receptor phosphorylation was not substantially affected by PKC inhibition but was reduced 40% (p