Molecular basis for the species selectivity of the neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists CP-96,345 and RP67580.

Two non-peptide substance P antagonists exhibit opposite rank orders of potency for the human and rat neurokinin-1 receptors. CP-96,345 shows selectivity for the human receptor, whereas RP67580 shows selectivity for the rat receptor. Amino acid sequence comparison of the two receptors reveals 22 divergent residues. To elucidate the molecular basis for the species selectivity of these antagonists, divergent residues in the human neurokinin-1 receptor were substituted by the rat homologs. Analysis of mutant receptors revealed that substitution of 2 residues (V116L and I290S) in the transmembrane domain of the human neurokinin-1 receptor is both necessary and sufficient to reproduce the antagonist binding affinities of the rat receptor. The nature of these substitutions and the magnitude of the changes in binding affinity suggest that residues 116 and 290 do not interact directly with the antagonist molecules. The present results support a model in which phylogenetically conserved residues interact directly with the antagonists, while phylogenetically divergent residues affect the local helical packing of the receptor. Such a change in local structure would lead to increased binding affinity for one class of antagonists and decreased affinity for another.