Calcium-Sensing Receptor: Trafficking, Endocytosis, Recycling, and Importance of Interacting Proteins

The cloning of the extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) provided a new paradigm in G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling in which principal physiological ligand is a cation, namely, extracellular calcium (Ca(o)(2+)). A wealth of information has accumulated in the past two decades about the CaSR's structure and function, its contribution to pathology in disorders of calcium in humans, and CaSR-based therapeutics. The CaSR unlike many other GPCRs must function in the presence of its ligand, thus understanding the mechanisms such as anterograde trafficking and endocytic pathways of this receptor are complex and fallen behind other classical GPCRs. Factors controlling CaSR signaling include various proteins affecting the expression of the CaSR as well as modulation of its trafficking to and from the cell surface. The dimeric cell-surface CaSR links to various heterotrimeric G-proteins (G(q/11), G(i/o), G(12/13), and G(s)) to regulate intracellular second messengers, lipid kinases, various protein kinases, and transcription factors that are part of the machinery enabling the receptor to modulate the functions of the wide variety of cells in which it is expressed. This chapter describes key features of CaSR structure and function and discusses novel mechanisms by which the level of cell-surface receptor expression can be regulated including forward trafficking during biosynthesis, desensitization, internalization and recycling from the cell surface, and degradation. These processes are impacted by its interactions with several proteins in addition to signaling molecules per se (i.e., G-proteins, protein kinases, inositol phosphates, etc.) and include small molecular weight G-proteins (Sar1, Rabs, ARF, P24A, RAMPs, filamin A, 14-3-3 proteins, calmodulin, and caveolin-1). Moreover, CaSR signaling seems compartmentalized in cell-type-specific manner, and caveolin and filamin A likely act as scaffolds that bind signaling components and other key cellular elements (e.g., the cytoskeleton) to facilitate the interaction of the receptor with its signaling pathways. Regulatory mechanisms are still evolving to understand how defects in trafficking of CaSR contribute to pathology in disorders of calcium homeostasis.