Multiple processing of Ig-Hepta/GPR116, a G protein-coupled receptor with immunoglobulin (Ig)-like repeats, and generation of EGF2-like fragment

Ig-Hepta/GPR116 is a member of the LNB-TM7 subfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), also termed the adhesion GPCRs, whose members have EGF, cadherin, lectin, thrombospondin, or Ig repeats in their long N-terminus. In this study, we established that Ig-Hepta is processed at multiple sites yielding the following four fragments: (i) presequence (amino acid residues 1-24), (ii) proEGF2 (25-223, alpha-fragment), (iii) Ig repeats (224-993, beta-chain), and (iv) TM7 (994-1349, gamma-chain). The proEGF2 region is converted to EGF2 (52-223) by the processing enzyme furin and remains attached to the beta- and gamma-chains. Expression of some mRNA species was affected by the presence of alpha-fragment. These results suggest that the furin-processed alpha-fragment is involved in cellular signaling.