Membrane progesterone receptors on the cell membrane: A review highlighting potential export motifs in mPRα regulating its trafficking to the cell surface

Substantial progress has been made in our understanding of the nongenomic actions, ligand binding, intracellular signaling pathways, and functions of membrane progesterone receptors (mPRs) in reproductive and nonreproductive tissues since their discovery 20 years ago. The five mPRs are members of the progestin adipoQ receptor (PAQR) family which also includes adiponectin receptors (AdipoRs). However, unlike AdipoRs, the 3-D structures of mPRs are unknown, and their structural characteristics remain poorly understood. The mechanisms regulating mPR functions and their trafficking to the cell surface have received little attention and have not been systematically reviewed. This paper summarizes some structural aspects of mPRs, including the ligand binding pocket of mPRα recently derived from homology modeling with AdipoRs, and the proposed topology of mPRs from the preponderance of positively charged amino acid residues in their intracellular domains. The mechanisms of trafficking membrane receptors to the cell surface are discussed, including the amino acid motifs involved with their export to the cell surface, the roles of adaptor proteins, and post-translational glycosylation and palmitoylation modifications that promote cell surface expression and retention. Evidence for similar mechanisms regulating the expression and functions of mPRs on the cell surface is discussed, including the identification of potential export motifs on mPRα required for its trafficking to the cell membrane. Collectively, these results have identified several potential mechanisms regulating the expression and functions of mPRs on the cell membrane for further investigation.