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Physiological Reviews Apr 2023Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a neuropeptide with diverse physiological functions. Its two isoforms (α and β) are widely expressed throughout the body in... (Review)
Review
Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a neuropeptide with diverse physiological functions. Its two isoforms (α and β) are widely expressed throughout the body in sensory neurons as well as in other cell types, such as motor neurons and neuroendocrine cells. CGRP acts via at least two G protein-coupled receptors that form unusual complexes with receptor activity-modifying proteins. These are the CGRP receptor and the AMY receptor; in rodents, additional receptors come into play. Although CGRP is known to produce many effects, the precise molecular identity of the receptor(s) that mediates CGRP effects is seldom clear. Despite the many enigmas still in CGRP biology, therapeutics that target the CGRP axis to treat or prevent migraine are a bench-to-bedside success story. This review provides a contextual background on the regulation and sites of CGRP expression and CGRP receptor pharmacology. The physiological actions of CGRP in the nervous system are discussed, along with updates on CGRP actions in the cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, immune, hematopoietic, and reproductive systems and metabolic effects of CGRP in muscle and adipose tissues. We cover how CGRP in these systems is associated with disease states, most notably migraine. In this context, we discuss how CGRP actions in both the peripheral and central nervous systems provide a basis for therapeutic targeting of CGRP in migraine. Finally, we highlight potentially fertile ground for the development of additional therapeutics and combinatorial strategies that could be designed to modulate CGRP signaling for migraine and other diseases.
Topics: Humans; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; Receptors, Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; Migraine Disorders; Central Nervous System; Motor Neurons
PubMed: 36454715
DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00059.2021 -
Pharmacological Reviews Oct 2020Oxytocin is a pleiotropic, peptide hormone with broad implications for general health, adaptation, development, reproduction, and social behavior. Endogenous oxytocin... (Review)
Review
Oxytocin is a pleiotropic, peptide hormone with broad implications for general health, adaptation, development, reproduction, and social behavior. Endogenous oxytocin and stimulation of the oxytocin receptor support patterns of growth, resilience, and healing. Oxytocin can function as a stress-coping molecule, an anti-inflammatory, and an antioxidant, with protective effects especially in the face of adversity or trauma. Oxytocin influences the autonomic nervous system and the immune system. These properties of oxytocin may help explain the benefits of positive social experiences and have drawn attention to this molecule as a possible therapeutic in a host of disorders. However, as detailed here, the unique chemical properties of oxytocin, including active disulfide bonds, and its capacity to shift chemical forms and bind to other molecules make this molecule difficult to work with and to measure. The effects of oxytocin also are context-dependent, sexually dimorphic, and altered by experience. In part, this is because many of the actions of oxytocin rely on its capacity to interact with the more ancient peptide molecule, vasopressin, and the vasopressin receptors. In addition, oxytocin receptor(s) are epigenetically tuned by experience, especially in early life. Stimulation of G-protein-coupled receptors triggers subcellular cascades allowing these neuropeptides to have multiple functions. The adaptive properties of oxytocin make this ancient molecule of special importance to human evolution as well as modern medicine and health; these same characteristics also present challenges to the use of oxytocin-like molecules as drugs that are only now being recognized. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Oxytocin is an ancient molecule with a major role in mammalian behavior and health. Although oxytocin has the capacity to act as a "natural medicine" protecting against stress and illness, the unique characteristics of the oxytocin molecule and its receptors and its relationship to a related hormone, vasopressin, have created challenges for its use as a therapeutic drug.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Oxytocin
PubMed: 32912963
DOI: 10.1124/pr.120.019398 -
Molecular Metabolism Oct 2021Insulin's discovery 100 years ago and its ongoing use since that time to treat diabetes belies the molecular complexity of its structure and that of its receptor.... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Insulin's discovery 100 years ago and its ongoing use since that time to treat diabetes belies the molecular complexity of its structure and that of its receptor. Advances in single-particle cryo-electron microscopy have over the past three years revolutionized our understanding of the atomic detail of insulin-receptor interactions.
SCOPE OF REVIEW
This review describes the three-dimensional structure of insulin and its receptor and details on how they interact. This review also highlights the current gaps in our structural understanding of the system.
MAJOR CONCLUSIONS
A near-complete picture has been obtained of the hormone receptor interactions, providing new insights into the kinetics of the interactions and necessitating a revision of the extant two-site cross-linking model of hormone receptor engagement. How insulin initially engages the receptor and the receptor's traversed trajectory as it undergoes conformational changes associated with activation remain areas for future investigation.
Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Cryoelectron Microscopy; Crystallography, X-Ray; Humans; Insulin; Protein Multimerization; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Receptor, Insulin
PubMed: 33992784
DOI: 10.1016/j.molmet.2021.101255 -
Annals of Hematology Jul 2021Secondary thrombocytosis is a frequent secondary finding in childhood infection and inflammation. Primary hereditary thrombocytosis may be caused by germline mutations... (Review)
Review
Secondary thrombocytosis is a frequent secondary finding in childhood infection and inflammation. Primary hereditary thrombocytosis may be caused by germline mutations within the genes encoding key regulators of thrombopoiesis, i.e., thrombopoietin (THPO) and its receptor c-MPL (MPL) or the receptor's effector kinase Januskinase2 (JAK2). Furthermore, somatic mutations in JAK2, MPL, and in the gene-encoding calreticulin (CALR) have been described to act as driver mutations within the so-called Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), namely essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF). Increasing knowledge on the molecular mechanisms and on the clinical complications of these diseases is reflected by the WHO diagnostic criteria and European LeukemiaNet (ELN) recommendations on the management of adult MPN. However, data on childhood thrombocytosis are rare, and no consensus guidelines for pediatric thrombocytosis exist. Current literature has highlighted differences in the epidemiology and molecular pathogenesis of childhood thrombocytosis as compared to adults. Furthermore, age-dependent complications and pharmacological specificities suggest that recommendations tailored to the pediatric population are necessary in clinical practice. Here we summarize literature on classification, diagnostics, and clinical management of childhood thrombocytosis.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age of Onset; Algorithms; Anticoagulants; Calreticulin; Child; Disease Management; Female; Germ-Line Mutation; Humans; Hydroxyurea; Interferon-alpha; Janus Kinase 2; Male; Myelodysplastic-Myeloproliferative Diseases; Platelet Count; Quinazolines; Receptors, Thrombopoietin; Severity of Illness Index; Thrombocythemia, Essential; Thrombocytosis; Thrombophilia
PubMed: 33712866
DOI: 10.1007/s00277-021-04485-0 -
Nature Sep 2021Olfactory systems must detect and discriminate amongst an enormous variety of odorants. To contend with this challenge, diverse species have converged on a common...
Olfactory systems must detect and discriminate amongst an enormous variety of odorants. To contend with this challenge, diverse species have converged on a common strategy in which odorant identity is encoded through the combinatorial activation of large families of olfactory receptors, thus allowing a finite number of receptors to detect a vast chemical world. Here we offer structural and mechanistic insight into how an individual olfactory receptor can flexibly recognize diverse odorants. We show that the olfactory receptor MhOR5 from the jumping bristletail Machilis hrabei assembles as a homotetrameric odorant-gated ion channel with broad chemical tuning. Using cryo-electron microscopy, we elucidated the structure of MhOR5 in multiple gating states, alone and in complex with two of its agonists-the odorant eugenol and the insect repellent DEET. Both ligands are recognized through distributed hydrophobic interactions within the same geometrically simple binding pocket located in the transmembrane region of each subunit, suggesting a structural logic for the promiscuous chemical sensitivity of this receptor. Mutation of individual residues lining the binding pocket predictably altered the sensitivity of MhOR5 to eugenol and DEET and broadly reconfigured the receptor's tuning. Together, our data support a model in which diverse odorants share the same structural determinants for binding, shedding light on the molecular recognition mechanisms that ultimately endow the olfactory system with its immense discriminatory capacity.
Topics: Animals; Binding Sites; Cell Line; DEET; Eugenol; Insect Proteins; Insecta; Ion Channel Gating; Ion Channels; Models, Molecular; Mutation; Odorants; Protein Binding; Protein Structure, Quaternary; Receptors, Odorant; Substrate Specificity
PubMed: 34349260
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03794-8 -
Cytokine Sep 2021Cytokines are pleiotropic polypeptides that control the development of and responses mediated by immune cells. Cytokine classification predominantly relies on [1] the... (Review)
Review
Cytokines are pleiotropic polypeptides that control the development of and responses mediated by immune cells. Cytokine classification predominantly relies on [1] the target receptor(s), [2] the primary structural features of the extracellular domains of their receptors, and [3] their receptor composition. Functionally, cytokines are either pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory, hematopoietic colony-stimulating factors, developmental and would healing maintaining immune homeostasis. When the balance in C can form complex networks amongst themselves that may affect the homeostasis and diseases. Cytokines can affect resistance and susceptibility for many diseases and their availability in the host cytokine production and interaction is disturbed, immunopathogenesis sets in. Therefore, cytokine-targeting bispecific, and chimeric antibodies form a significant mode of immnuo-therapeutics Although the field has grown deep and wide, many areas of cytokine biology remain unknown. Here, we have reviewed these cytokines along with the organization, signaling, and functions through respective cytokine-receptor-families. Being part of the special issue on the Role of Cytokines in Leishmaniasis, this review is intended to be used as an organized primer on cytokines and not a resource for detailed discussion- for which a two-volume Handbook of cytokines is available- on each of the cytokines. Priming the readers on cytokines, we next brief the role of cytokines in Leishmaniasis. In the brief, we do not provide an account of each of the involved cytokines known to date, instead, we offer a temporal relationship between the cytokines and the progress of the infection towards the alternate outcomes- healing or non-healing- of the infection.
Topics: Animals; Cytokines; Homeostasis; Humans; Inflammation; Leishmaniasis; Receptors, Cytokine; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 33581983
DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2021.155458 -
Science Advances May 2023Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and other malignancies. The cellular origin of KS has...
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and other malignancies. The cellular origin of KS has been suggested to be either mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or endothelial cells. However, receptor(s) for KSHV to infect MSCs remains unknown. By combining bioinformatics analysis and shRNA screening, we identify neuropilin 1 (NRP1) as an entry receptor for KSHV infection of MSCs. Functionally, NRP1 knockout and overexpression in MSCs significantly reduce and promote, respectively, KSHV infection. Mechanistically, NRP1 facilitated the binding and internalization of KSHV by interacting with KSHV glycoprotein B (gB), which was blocked by soluble NRP1 protein. Furthermore, NRP1 interacts with TGF-β receptor type 2 (TGFBR2) through their respective cytoplasmic domains and thus activates the TGFBR1/2 complex, which facilitates the macropinocytosis-mediated KSHV internalization via the small GTPases Cdc42 and Rac1. Together, these findings implicate that KSHV has evolved a strategy to invade MSCs by harnessing NRP1 and TGF-beta receptors to stimulate macropinocytosis.
Topics: Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type I; Neuropilin-1; Herpesvirus 8, Human; Endothelial Cells; Mesenchymal Stem Cells
PubMed: 37224259
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg1778 -
Current Allergy and Asthma Reports Dec 2023Chronic spontaneous urticaria and chronic inducible urticaria (CSU/CindU) are caused by mast cell and basophil activation leading to degranulation and the release of... (Review)
Review
PURPOSEOF REVIEW
Chronic spontaneous urticaria and chronic inducible urticaria (CSU/CindU) are caused by mast cell and basophil activation leading to degranulation and the release of histamine and several other mediators. Three kinds of factors can trigger mast cells in CSU: (1) activation of stimulating receptor(s) on the mast cell membrane, (2) upregulation of certain receptor(s), and (3) intracellular dysregulation in signaling with overexpression of the spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) or reduced activation of the inhibitory Src homology 2 (SH2)-containing inositol phosphatases (SHIP)-related pathways. In CSU, two major endotypes exist based on the primary receptor activating mechanism: type I hypersensitivity (IgE-mediated, directed against auto-allergens) and type IIb (autoimmune, via IgG autoantibodies directed against IgE or the IgE-receptor). Their treatment responses vary. We discuss in vitro and in vivo biomarkers.
RECENT FINDINGS
Patients with auto-allergic CSU have clinical characteristics that can distinguish them partly from those with autoimmune CSU. Most importantly, their disease generally presents a less aggressive course, a better response to second generation (up-dosed) antihistamines and a good response to omalizumab, if necessary. Meanwhile, autoimmune CSU/CindU patients fare less well and often need immunosuppressive drugs. Biomarkers that might help endotype CSU/CindU patients and select the most appropriate treatment, dose, and duration, e.g., for autoallergic CSU, high total IgE and IgE against auto-allergens; for autoimmune CSU, low IgE, basopenia, and IgG against autoantigens like thyroid peroxidase and a positive autologous serum skin test (but sometimes also positive in autoallergy). Some biomarkers are easily accessible but of low specificity; others are highly specific but more futuristic.
Topics: Humans; Urticaria; Immunoglobulin E; Chronic Urticaria; Biomarkers; Omalizumab; Allergens; Chronic Inducible Urticaria; Immunoglobulin G; Chronic Disease
PubMed: 38064133
DOI: 10.1007/s11882-023-01117-7