Using the novel HiBiT tag to label cell surface relaxin receptors for BRET proximity analysis

Relaxin family peptide 1 (RXFP1) is the receptor for relaxin a peptide hormone with important therapeutic potential. Like many G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), RXFP1 has been reported to form homodimers. Given the complex activation mechanism of RXFP1 by relaxin, we wondered whether homodimerization may be explicitly required for receptor activation, and therefore sought to determine if there is any relaxin-dependent change in RXFP1 proximity at the cell surface. Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) between recombinantly tagged receptors is often used in GPCR proximity studies. RXFP1 targets poorly to the cell surface when overexpressed in cell lines, with the majority of the receptor proteins sequestered within the cell. Thus, any relaxin-induced changes in RXFP1 proximity at the cell surface may be obscured by BRET signal originating from intracellular compartments. We therefore, utilized the newly developed split luciferase system called HiBiT to specifically label the extracellular terminus of cell surface RXFP1 receptors in combination with mCitrine-tagged receptors, using the GABA_B heterodimer as a positive control. This demonstrated that the BRET signal detected from RXFP1-RXFP1 proximity at the cell surface does not appear to be due to stable physical interactions. The fact that there is also no relaxin-mediated change in RXFP1-RXFP1 proximity at the cell surface further supports these conclusions. This work provides a basis by which cell surface GPCR proximity and expression levels can be specifically studied using a facile and homogeneous labeling technique such as HiBiT.