1
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Romero G, Martin B, Gabris B, Salama G. Relaxin suppresses atrial fibrillation, reverses fibrosis and reduces inflammation in aged hearts. Biochem Pharmacol 2024:116407. [PMID: 38969298 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2024.116407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2024] [Revised: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024]
Abstract
Healthy aging results in cardiac structural and electrical remodeling that increase susceptibility to cardiovascular diseases. Relaxin has shown broad cardioprotective effects including anti-fibrotic, anti-arrhythmic and anti-inflammatory outcomes in multiple models. This paper focuses on the cardioprotective effects of Relaxin in a rat model of aging. Sustained atrial or ventricular fibrillation are readily induced in the hearts of aged but not young control animals. Treatment with Relaxin suppressed this arrhythmogenic response by increasing conduction velocity, decreasing fibrosis and promoting substantial cardiac remodeling. Relaxin treatment resulted in a significant increase in the levels of: Nav1.5, Cx43, βcatenin and Wnt1 in rat hearts. In isolated cardiomyocytes, Relaxin increased Nav1.5 expression. These effects were mimicked by CHIR 99021, a pharmacological activator of canonical Wnt signaling, but blocked by the canonical Wnt inhibitor Dickkopf1. Relaxin prevented TGF-β-dependent differentiation of cardiac fibroblasts into myofibroblasts while increasing the expression of Wnt1; the effects of Relaxin on cardiac fibroblast differentiation were blocked by Dickkopf1. RNASeq studies demonstrated reduced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and an increase in the expression of α- and β-globin in Relaxin-treated aged males. Relaxin reduces arrhythmogenicity in the hearts of aged rats by reduction of fibrosis and increased conduction velocity. These changes are accompanied by substantial remodeling of the cardiac tissue and appear to be mediated by increased canonical Wnt signaling. Relaxin also exerts significant anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects in the hearts of aged rodents. The mechanisms by which Relaxin increases the expression of Wnt ligands, promotes Wnt signaling and reprograms gene expression remain to be determined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Romero
- Departments of Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Brian Martin
- Departments of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Beth Gabris
- Departments of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Guy Salama
- Departments of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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2
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Wu H, Praveen P, Handley TNG, Chandrashekar C, Cummins SF, Bathgate RAD, Hossain MA. Total Chemical Synthesis of Aggregation-Prone Disulfide-Rich Starfish Peptides. Chemistry 2024; 30:e202400933. [PMID: 38609334 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202400933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
A relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide (RGP), Aso-RGP, featuring six cysteine residues, was identified in the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (COTS, Acanthaster cf. solaris) and initially produced through recombinant yeast expression. This method yielded a single-chain peptide with an uncleaved C-peptide (His Tag) and suboptimal purity. Our objective was to chemically synthesize Aso-RGP in its mature form, comprising two chains (A and B) and three disulfide bridges, omitting the C-peptide. Furthermore, we aimed to synthesize a newly identified relaxin-like peptide, Aso-RLP2, from COTS, which had not been previously synthesized. This paper reports the first total chemical synthesis of Aso-RGP and Aso-RLP2. Aso-RGP synthesis proceeded without major issues, whereas the A-chain of Aso-RLP2, in its reduced and unfolded state with two free thiols, presented considerable challenges. These were initially marked by "messy" RP-HPLC profiles, typically indicative of synthesis failure. Surprisingly, oxidizing the A-chain significantly improved the RP-HPLC profile, revealing the main issue was not synthesis failure but the peptide's aggregation tendency, which initially obscured analysis. This discovery highlights the critical need to account for aggregation in peptide synthesis and analysis. Ultimately, our efforts led to the successful synthesis of both peptides with purities exceeding 95 %.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongkang Wu
- The Florey, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Praveen Praveen
- The Florey, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | | | - Scott F Cummins
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - Ross A D Bathgate
- The Florey, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Mohammed Akhter Hossain
- The Florey, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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3
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Donizetti A, Calicchio M, Romano MZ, Rosati L, Turco M, Carrese AM, del Gaudio R, Ferrandino I, Aniello F. Expression of Insl3 Protein in Adult Danio rerio. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:5419. [PMID: 38791457 PMCID: PMC11122137 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25105419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2024] [Revised: 05/04/2024] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) is a biomarker for Leydig cells in the testes of vertebrates, and it is principally involved in spermatogenesis through specific binding with the RXFP2 receptor. This study reports the insl3 gene transcript and the Insl3 prepropeptide expression in both non-reproductive and reproductive tissues of Danio rerio. An immunohistochemistry analysis shows that the hormone is present at a low level in the Leydig cells and germ cells at all stages of Danio rerio testis differentiation. Considering that the insl3 gene is transcribed in Leydig cells, our results highlight an autocrine and paracrine function of this hormone in the Danio rerio testis, adding new information on the Insl3 mode of action in reproduction. We also show that Insl3 and Rxfp2 belonging to Danio rerio and other vertebrate species share most of the amino acid residues involved in the ligand-receptor interaction and activation, suggesting a conserved mechanism of action during vertebrate evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aldo Donizetti
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.D.); (M.C.); (L.R.); (M.T.); (A.M.C.); (R.d.G.); (I.F.)
| | - Mauro Calicchio
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.D.); (M.C.); (L.R.); (M.T.); (A.M.C.); (R.d.G.); (I.F.)
| | - Maria Zelinda Romano
- Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy;
| | - Luigi Rosati
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.D.); (M.C.); (L.R.); (M.T.); (A.M.C.); (R.d.G.); (I.F.)
| | - Manuela Turco
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.D.); (M.C.); (L.R.); (M.T.); (A.M.C.); (R.d.G.); (I.F.)
| | - Anna Maria Carrese
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.D.); (M.C.); (L.R.); (M.T.); (A.M.C.); (R.d.G.); (I.F.)
| | - Rosanna del Gaudio
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.D.); (M.C.); (L.R.); (M.T.); (A.M.C.); (R.d.G.); (I.F.)
| | - Ida Ferrandino
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.D.); (M.C.); (L.R.); (M.T.); (A.M.C.); (R.d.G.); (I.F.)
| | - Francesco Aniello
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (A.D.); (M.C.); (L.R.); (M.T.); (A.M.C.); (R.d.G.); (I.F.)
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4
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Somanader DVN, Zhao P, Widdop RE, Samuel CS. The involvement of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling cascade in fibrosis progression and its therapeutic targeting by relaxin. Biochem Pharmacol 2024; 223:116130. [PMID: 38490518 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2024.116130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
Organ scarring, referred to as fibrosis, results from a failed wound-healing response to chronic tissue injury and is characterised by the aberrant accumulation of various extracellular matrix (ECM) components. Once established, fibrosis is recognised as a hallmark of stiffened and dysfunctional tissues, hence, various fibrosis-related diseases collectively contribute to high morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Despite this, these diseases are ineffectively treated by currently-available medications. The pro-fibrotic cytokine, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, has emerged as the master regulator of fibrosis progression, owing to its ability to promote various factors and processes that facilitate rapid ECM synthesis and deposition, whilst negating ECM degradation. TGF-β1 signal transduction is tightly controlled by canonical (Smad-dependent) and non-canonical (MAP kinase- and Rho-associated protein kinase-dependent) intracellular protein activity, whereas its pro-fibrotic actions can also be facilitated by the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. This review outlines the pathological sequence of events and contributing roles of TGF-β1 in the progression of fibrosis, and how the Wnt/β-catenin pathway contributes to tissue repair in acute disease settings, but to fibrosis and related tissue dysfunction in synergy with TGF-β1 in chronic diseases. It also outlines the anti-fibrotic and related signal transduction mechanisms of the hormone, relaxin, that are mediated via its negative modulation of TGF-β1 and Wnt/β-catenin signaling, but through the promotion of Wnt/β-catenin activity in acute disease settings. Collectively, this highlights that the crosstalk between TGF-β1 signal transduction and the Wnt/β-catenin cascade may provide a therapeutic target that can be exploited to broadly treat and reverse established fibrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deidree V N Somanader
- Cardiovascular Disease Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Pharmacology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Peishen Zhao
- Drug Discovery Biology Program, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Robert E Widdop
- Cardiovascular Disease Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Pharmacology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Chrishan S Samuel
- Cardiovascular Disease Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Pharmacology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia.
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5
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Acar-Sahan S, Guner O, Ates M, Kaya-Temiz T, Durmus N. In vitro effect of relaxin in the rat corpus cavernosum under hyperglycemic and normoglycemic conditions. Int J Impot Res 2024; 36:72-77. [PMID: 36509910 DOI: 10.1038/s41443-022-00653-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Relaxin, an endogenous peptide hormone, elicits vascular relaxation by its direct effect or by modulating the endothelium-dependent relaxation response and is clinically evaluated for the treatment of coronary artery disease. However, its effect on penile tissue has not been explored yet. This study aimed to investigate the effect of serelaxin, recombinant human relaxin-2, on rat corpus cavernosum (CC) under healthy and hyperglycemic conditions. Strips of CC obtained from thirty-nine male Wistar rats weighing 300-350 g were used in organ baths for isometric tension studies to investigate the serelaxin-mediated relaxation (10-12-10-7 M) under normoglycemic conditions and the effect of serelaxin on endothelium-dependent [nitric oxide (NO)- and prostacyclin-mediated] relaxation responses under hyperglycemic conditions. The in vitro hyperglycemia model was created by 3 h of incubation with 44 mM glucose monohydrate +120 μM methylglyoxal. NO-dependent relaxation responses were evaluated by cumulative acetylcholine (10-9-10-4 M) administration in the presence of indomethacin (10-6 M). Prostacyclin-mediated relaxation was evaluated by cumulative administration of iloprost (10-9-10-6 M), a prostacyclin analog. Maximum relaxation responses to serelaxin were not significantly different compared to the time-control (p = 0.480). Three hours of incubation of rat CC in hyperglycemic conditions impaired NO- and prostacyclin-mediated relaxation responses (p = 0.032 and p = 0.047, respectively). Serelaxin coincubation worsened NO-mediated relaxation responses (p = 0.016) but did not affect prostacyclin-mediated responses (p = 0.425). Together, our results demonstrate that in vitro administration of serelaxin does not cause relaxation in penile tissue and short-term in vitro serelaxin treatment in hyperglycemic conditions mimicked diabetes modulates endothelium-dependent responses by worsening NO-mediated responses. Serelaxin exerts different effects via different mechanism on endothelium-dependent responses depending on the dose and duration of exposure. Therefore, proper timing and dosing of serelaxin administration in the penile tissue need to be investigated in further studies in diabetic animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selin Acar-Sahan
- Dokuz Eylul University, Institute of Health Sciences, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Ozge Guner
- University of Health Sciences Istanbul Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Education and Research Hospital, Medical Pharmacology, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Mehmet Ates
- Dokuz Eylul University, Vocational School of Health Services, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Tijen Kaya-Temiz
- Izmir Katip Celebi University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Nergiz Durmus
- Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Izmir, Turkey.
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6
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Southey BR, Romanova EV, Rodriguez-Zas SL, Sweedler JV. Bioinformatics for Prohormone and Neuropeptide Discovery. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2758:151-178. [PMID: 38549013 PMCID: PMC11045269 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3646-6_8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Neuropeptides and peptide hormones are signaling molecules produced via complex posttranslational modifications of precursor proteins known as prohormones. Neuropeptides activate specific receptors and are associated with the regulation of physiological systems and behaviors. The identification of prohormones-and the neuropeptides created by these prohormones-from genomic assemblies has become essential to support the annotation and use of the rapidly growing number of sequenced genomes. Here we describe a well-validated methodology for identifying the prohormone complement from genomic assemblies that employs widely available public toolsets and databases. The uncovered prohormone sequences can then be screened for putative neuropeptides to enable accurate proteomic discovery and validation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce R Southey
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Elena V Romanova
- Department of Chemistry, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Sandra L Rodriguez-Zas
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Jonathan V Sweedler
- Department of Chemistry, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
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7
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Hoang KX, Matsuzaki M, Kohsaka T, Sasanami T. Expression of Relaxin 3 in the Ovarian Follicle of Japanese Quail. J Poult Sci 2023; 60:2023025. [PMID: 37795378 PMCID: PMC10545447 DOI: 10.2141/jpsa.2023025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The relaxin (RLN) gene is expressed in the reproductive tracts, such as the ovary and uterus, of mammalian species. Although RLN expression is detected in the chicken ovary, detailed clarification of the physiological role of RLN has not yet been reported. To address this issue, in the present study we aimed to examine the spatiotemporal expression and hormonal control of RLN in Japanese quail. By performing semi-quantitative and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis, we found that RLN mRNA was mainly expressed in the granulosa and theca layers of the ovary. The expression level in the granulosa layer increased with the stage of follicular development. Results from granulosa layer culture experiments revealed that RLN mRNA expression increased with the addition of estradiol-17β, whereas the addition of progesterone suppressed RLN transcription. More detailed analysis indicated that RLN expression was highest in the stigma region of the follicle but significantly decreased as the time of the expected luteinizing hormone (LH) surge approached. Together, our findings demonstrated that the granulosa cells in the mature preovulatory follicles constitute the main source of RLN in the Japanese quail. Because RLN expression was highest in the stigma region and the expression dramatically decreased following the LH surge, the results further suggest that RLN may be related to tissue remodeling for the ovulation process in birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khoi X. Hoang
- United Graduate
School of Agricultural Science, Gifu University,
1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan
| | - Mei Matsuzaki
- Program of Food and
AgriLife Science, Graduate School of Integrated
Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, 1-4-4
Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima City, Hiroshima
739-8528, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Kohsaka
- Faculty of Health
Science, Butsuryo College of Osaka, 3-33
Otorikita-machi, Sakai, Osaka 593-8328,
Japan
| | - Tomohiro Sasanami
- United Graduate
School of Agricultural Science, Gifu University,
1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan
- Department of
Applied Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture,
Shizuoka University, 836 Ohya, Shizuoka, Shizuoka
422-8529, Japan
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8
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Myocardial Infarction-Induced INSL6 Decrease Contributes to Breast Cancer Progression. DISEASE MARKERS 2023; 2023:8702914. [PMID: 36798786 PMCID: PMC9928516 DOI: 10.1155/2023/8702914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
Myocardial infarction (MI) induces early-stage breast cancer progression and increases breast cancer patients' mortality and morbidity. Insulin-like peptide 6 (INSL6) overexpression can impede cardiotoxin-induced injury through myofiber regeneration, playing a significant role in MI progression. To investigate the diverse significance of INSL6 in a variety of malignant tumors, we explored INSL6 through MI GEO dataset and multiple omics data integrative analysis, such as gene expression level, enriched pathway analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis, and immune subtypes as well as diagnostic value and prognostic value in pancancer. INSL6 expression was downregulated in the MI group, and overall survival analysis demonstrated that INSL6 could be the prognostic biomarkers in the overall survival of breast cancer (BRCA). INSL6 expression differs significantly not only in most cancers but also in different molecular and immune subtypes of cancers. INSL6 might be a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of cancers due to the high accuracy in diagnostic and prognostic value. Furthermore, we focused on BRCA and further investigated INSL6 from the perspective of the correlations with clinical characteristics, prognosis in different clinical subgroups, coexpression genes, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and PPI analysis. Overall survival and disease-specific survival analysis of subgroups in BRCA demonstrated that lower INSL6 expression had a worse prognosis. Therefore, INSL6 aberrant expression is associated with the progression and immune cell infiltration of the tumor, especially in KIRP and BRCA. Therefore, INSL6 may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and the crosstalk between MI and tumor progression.
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Bigler NA, Gross JJ, Baumrucker CR, Bruckmaier RM. Endocrine changes during the peripartal period related to colostrogenesis in mammalian species. J Anim Sci 2023; 101:skad146. [PMID: 37158662 PMCID: PMC10237234 DOI: 10.1093/jas/skad146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023] Open
Abstract
This review discusses endocrine and functional changes during the transition from late gestation to lactation that are related to the production of colostrum in different mammalian species. Species covered in this article include ungulate species (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses), rodents (rat, mouse), rabbits, and carnivores (cats, dogs), as well as humans. An immediate availability of high quality colostrum for the newborn after birth is crucial in species where a transfer of immunoglobulins (Ig) does not or only partially occur via the placenta during pregnancy. Declining activity of gestagens, in most species progesterone (P4), is crucial at the end of pregnancy to allow for the characteristic endocrine changes to initiate parturition and lactation, but the endocrine regulation of colostrogenesis is negligible. Both, the functional pathways and the timing of gestagen withdrawal differ considerably among mammalian species. In species with a sustaining corpus luteum throughout the entire pregnancy (cattle, goat, pig, cat, dog, rabbit, mouse, and rat), a prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α)-induced luteolysis shortly before parturition is assumed to be the key event to initiate parturition as well as lactogenesis. In species where the gestagen production is taken over by the placenta during the course of gestation (e.g., sheep, horse, and human), the reduction of gestagen activity is more complex, as PGF2α does not affect placental gestagen production. In sheep the steroid hormone synthesis is directed away from P4 towards estradiol-17β (E2) to achieve a low gestagen activity at high E2 concentrations. In humans the uterus becomes insensitive to P4, as parturition occurs despite still high P4 concentrations. However, lactogenesis is not completed as long as P4 concentration is high. Early colostrum and thus Ig intake for immune protection is not needed for the human newborn which allows a delayed onset of copious milk secretion for days until the placenta expulsion causes the P4 drop. Like humans, horses do not need low gestagen concentrations for successful parturition. However, newborn foals need immediate immune protection through Ig intake with colostrum. This requires the start of lactogenesis before parturition which is not fully clarified. The knowledge of the endocrine changes and related pathways to control the key events integrating the processes of colostrogenesis, parturition, and start of lactation are incomplete in many species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi A Bigler
- Veterinary Physiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 109a, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Josef J Gross
- Veterinary Physiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 109a, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Craig R Baumrucker
- Department of Animal Science, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Rupert M Bruckmaier
- Veterinary Physiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bremgartenstrasse 109a, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
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Lv C, Zheng H, Jiang B, Ren Q, Zhang J, Zhang X, Li J, Wang Y. Characterization of relaxin 3 and its receptors in chicken: Evidence for relaxin 3 acting as a novel pituitary hormone. Front Physiol 2022; 13:1010851. [DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1010851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Mammalian relaxin (RLN) family peptides binding their receptors (RXFPs) play a variety of roles in many physiological processes, such as reproduction, stress, appetite regulation, and energy balance. In birds, although two relaxin family peptides (RLN3 and INSL5) and four receptors (RXFP1, RXFP2, RXFP2-like, and RXFP3) were predicated, their sequence features, signal properties, tissue distribution, and physiological functions remain largely unknown. In this study, using chickens as the experimental model, we cloned the cDNA of the cRLN3 gene and two receptor (cRXFP1 and cRXFP3) genes. Using cell-based luciferase reporter assays, we demonstrate that cRLN3 is able to activate both cRXFP1 and cRXFP3 for downstream signaling. cRXFP1, rather than cRXFP3, is a cognate receptor for cRLN3, which is different from the mammals. Tissue distribution analyses reveal that cRLN3 is highly expressed in the pituitary with lower abundance in the hypothalamus and ovary of female chicken, together with the detection that cRLN3 co-localizes with pituitary hormone genes LHB/FSHB/GRP/CART and its expression is tightly regulated by hypothalamic factors (GnRH and CRH) and sex steroid hormone (E2). The present study supports that cRLN3 may function as a novel pituitary hormone involving female reproduction.
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11
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Blasiak A, Gugula A, Gundlach AL, Olucha-Bordonau FE, Aniello F, Donizetti A. Relaxin ligand/receptor systems in the developing teleost fish brain: Conserved features with mammals and a platform to address neuropeptide system functions. Front Mol Neurosci 2022; 15:984524. [PMID: 36277494 PMCID: PMC9580368 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.984524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The relaxins (RLNs) are a group of peptide hormone/neuromodulators that can regulate a wide range of physiological processes ranging from reproduction to brain function. All the family members have originated from a RLN3-like ancestor via different rounds of whole genome and gene specific duplications during vertebrate evolution. In mammals, including human, the divergence of the different family members and the emergence of new members led to the acquisition of specific functions for the various relaxin family peptide and associated receptor genes. In particular, in mammals, it was shown, that the role of RLN3 is correlated to the modulation of arousal, stress responses, emotion, social recognition, and other brain functions, positioning this gene/peptide as a potential therapeutic target for neuropsychiatric disorders. This review highlights the evolutionary conservation of relaxin family peptide and receptor gene expression and their associated brain neural circuits. In the zebrafish, the expression pattern of the different relaxin family members has specific features that are conserved in higher species, including a likely similar functional role for the ancestral RLN3-like gene. The use of different model organisms, particularly the zebrafish, to explore the diversification and conservation of relaxin family ligands and receptor systems, provides a relatively high-throughput platform to identify their specific conserved or differential neuromodulatory roles in higher species including human.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Blasiak
- Department of Neurophysiology and Chronobiology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Anna Gugula
- Department of Neurophysiology and Chronobiology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Andrew L. Gundlach
- Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Department of Anatomy and Physiology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Francesco Aniello
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Aldo Donizetti
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- *Correspondence: Aldo Donizetti,
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Comparative Genomic Characterization of Relaxin Peptide Family in Cattle and Buffalo. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2022; 2022:1581714. [PMID: 36246983 PMCID: PMC9553489 DOI: 10.1155/2022/1581714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Relaxin family peptides significantly regulate reproduction, nutrient metabolism, and immune response in mammals. The present study aimed to identify and characterize the relaxin family peptides in cattle and buffalo at the genome level. The genomic and proteomic sequences of cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, horse, and camel were accessed through the NCBI database, and BLAST was performed. We identified four relaxin peptides genes (RLN3, INSL3, INSL5, and INSL6) in Bos taurus, whereas three relaxin genes (RLN3, INSL3, and INSL6) in Bubalus bubalis. Evolutionary analysis revealed the conserved nature of relaxin family peptides in buffalo and cattle. Physicochemical properties revealed that relaxin proteins were thermostable, hydrophilic, and basic peptides except for INSL5 which was an acidic peptide. Three nonsynonymous mutations (two in RLN3 at positions A16 > T and P29 > A, and one in INSL6 at position R32 > Q) in Bos taurus, whereas two nonsynonymous mutations (one in RLN3 at positions G105 > w and one in INSL3 at position G22 > R) in Bubalus bubalis, were identified. INSL3 had one indel (insertion) at position 55 in Bos taurus. Gene duplication analysis revealed predominantly segmental duplications (INSL5/RLN3 and INSL6/INSL3 gene pairs) that helped expand this gene family, whereas Bubalus bubalis showed primarily tandem duplication (INSL3/RLN3). Our study concluded that relaxin family peptides remained conserved during the evolution, and gene duplications might help to adapt and enrich specific functions like reproduction, nutrient metabolism, and immune response. Further, the nonsynonymous mutations identified potentially affect these functions in buffalo.
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Chen TY, Li X, Goobie GC, Hung CH, Hung TK, Hamilton K, Bahudhanapati H, Tan J, Kass DJ, Zhang Y. Identification of a distal RXFP1 gene enhancer with differential activity in fibrotic lung fibroblasts involving AP-1. PLoS One 2022; 16:e0254466. [PMID: 34972106 PMCID: PMC8719731 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Relaxin/insulin-like family peptide receptor 1 (RXFP1) mediates relaxin’s antifibrotic effects and has reduced expression in the lung and skin of patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease (fILD) including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and systemic sclerosis (SSc). This may explain the failure of relaxin-based anti-fibrotic treatments in SSc, but the regulatory mechanisms controlling RXFP1 expression remain largely unknown. This study aimed to identify regulatory elements of RXFP1 that may function differentially in fibrotic fibroblasts. We identified and evaluated a distal regulatory region of RXFP1 in lung fibroblasts using a luciferase reporter system. Using serial deletions, an enhancer upregulating pGL3-promoter activity was localized to the distal region between -584 to -242bp from the distal transcription start site (TSS). This enhancer exhibited reduced activity in IPF and SSc lung fibroblasts. Bioinformatic analysis identified two clusters of activator protein 1 (AP-1) transcription factor binding sites within the enhancer. Site-directed mutagenesis of the binding sites confirmed that only one cluster reduced activity (-358 to -353 relative to distal TSS). Co-expression of FOS in lung fibroblasts further increased enhancer activity. In vitro complex formation with a labeled probe spanning the functional AP-1 site using nuclear proteins isolated from lung fibroblasts confirmed a specific DNA/protein complex formation. Application of antibodies against JUN and FOS resulted in the complex alteration, while antibodies to JUNB and FOSL1 did not. Analysis of AP-1 binding in 5 pairs of control and IPF lung fibroblasts detected positive binding more frequently in control fibroblasts. Expression of JUN and FOS was reduced and correlated positively with RXFP1 expression in IPF lungs. In conclusion, we identified a distal enhancer of RXFP1 with differential activity in fibrotic lung fibroblasts involving AP-1 transcription factors. Our study provides insight into RXFP1 downregulation in fILD and may support efforts to reevaluate relaxin-based therapeutics alongside upregulation of RXFP1 transcription.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting-Yun Chen
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
- Institute of Allied Health Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Xiaoyun Li
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Gillian C. Goobie
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, Clinician Investigator Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Ching-Hsia Hung
- Institute of Allied Health Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Tin-Kan Hung
- Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Kyle Hamilton
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Harinath Bahudhanapati
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Jiangning Tan
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Daniel J. Kass
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Yingze Zhang
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
- Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Skok DJ, Hauptman N, Jerala M, Zidar N. Expression of Cytokine-Coding Genes BMP8B, LEFTY1 and INSL5 Could Distinguish between Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12101477. [PMID: 34680872 PMCID: PMC8535226 DOI: 10.3390/genes12101477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Revised: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are characterized by an imbalance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, interfering with the resolution of inflammation. Due to the crucial role of cytokines, new insights into their profiles in UC and CD would help to improve our understanding of pathogenesis and enable the development of new treatment modalities. We provide an expression profile of cytokines in UC and CD, using bioinformatics approach, and experimental validation of expression of the selected genes. We retrieved data and analyzed the cytokine gene expression profiles of UC and CD. From ten genes with inverse expression, common to CD and UC, BMP8B, LEFTY1 and INSL5 were selected for gene expression experimental validation. Experimentally, BMP8B and INSL5 were down-regulated in both CD and UC but followed the bioinformatics trend. The expression of genes LEFTY1 and BMP8B was statistically significant when comparing UC and CD in colon and the expression of gene LEFTY1 showed statistical significance when CD in ileum and colon were compared. Using the bioinformatics approach and experimental validation, we found differences in expression profiles between UC and CD for INSL5, LEFTY1 and BMP8B. These three promising candidate genes need to be further explored at different levels, such as DNA methylation and protein expression, to provide more evidence on their potential diagnostic role in CD and UC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daša Jevšinek Skok
- Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Korytkova 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; (D.J.S.); (N.H.); (M.J.)
- Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova Ulica 17, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Nina Hauptman
- Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Korytkova 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; (D.J.S.); (N.H.); (M.J.)
| | - Miha Jerala
- Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Korytkova 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; (D.J.S.); (N.H.); (M.J.)
| | - Nina Zidar
- Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Korytkova 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; (D.J.S.); (N.H.); (M.J.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +386-1-543-7149
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15
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Zhang X, Bathgate RAD, Hossain MA. Human Insulin-like Peptide 5 (INSL5). Identification of a Simplified Version of Two-Chain Analog A13. ACS Med Chem Lett 2020; 11:2455-2460. [PMID: 33335667 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.0c00435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The receptor for insulin-like peptide 5 (INSL5), RXFP4, is a potential pharma target for treating human conditions such as constipation, anorexia, and obesity. However, since INSL5 has a complex structure of two chains and three disulfide bonds, its synthesis has proven to be extremely difficult via either chemical or recombinant approaches. Previous studies led to the engineering of a high yielding simplified INSL5 analog, named analog 13 (A13), which retains native INSL5-like activity. The focus of this study is to further simplify the structure of A13 by truncating the N-terminal residues of the B-chain. We have found that the first six residues at the N-terminus of A13 are not important for RXFP4 binding and cAMP potency. The most minimized active structure of INSL5 identified in this study is A13: B7-24 which will be an important research tool to study the physiological role of RXFP4 and a template for further modification to improve its pharmacokinetic properties.
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16
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Lee HS, Wang SH, Daniel JT, Hossain MA, Clark RJ, Bathgate RAD, Rosengren KJ. Exploring the Use of Helicogenic Amino Acids for Optimising Single Chain Relaxin-3 Peptide Agonists. Biomedicines 2020; 8:biomedicines8100415. [PMID: 33066369 PMCID: PMC7602263 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines8100415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Revised: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Relaxin-3 is a highly conserved two-chain neuropeptide that acts through its endogenous receptor the Relaxin Family Peptide-3 (RXFP3) receptor. The ligand/receptor system is known to modulate several physiological processes, with changes in food intake and anxiety-levels the most well studied in rodent models. Agonist and antagonist analogues based on the native two-chain peptide are costly to synthesise and not ideal drug leads. Since RXFP3 interacting residues are found in the relaxin B-chain only, this has been the focus of analogue development. The B-chain is unstructured without the A-chain support, but in single-chain variants structure can be induced by dicarba-based helical stapling strategies. Here we investigated whether alternative helical inducing strategies also can enhance structure and activity at RXFP3. Combinations of the helix inducing α-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) were incorporated into the sequence of the relaxin-3 B-chain. Aib residues at positions 13, 17 and 18 partially reintroduce helicity and activity of the relaxin-3 B-chain, but other positions are generally not suited for modifications. We identify Thr21 as a putative new receptor contact residue important for RXFP3 binding. Cysteine residues were also incorporated into the sequence and cross-linked with dichloroacetone or α, α'-dibromo-m-xylene. However, in contrast to previously reported dicarba variants, neither were found to promote structure and RXFP3 activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Siean Lee
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; (H.S.L.); (S.H.W.); (J.T.D.); (R.J.C.)
| | - Shu Hui Wang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; (H.S.L.); (S.H.W.); (J.T.D.); (R.J.C.)
| | - James T. Daniel
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; (H.S.L.); (S.H.W.); (J.T.D.); (R.J.C.)
| | - Mohammed Akhter Hossain
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia; (M.A.H.); (R.A.D.B.)
- School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Richard J. Clark
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; (H.S.L.); (S.H.W.); (J.T.D.); (R.J.C.)
| | - Ross A. D. Bathgate
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia; (M.A.H.); (R.A.D.B.)
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - K. Johan Rosengren
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; (H.S.L.); (S.H.W.); (J.T.D.); (R.J.C.)
- Correspondence:
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D'Ercole A, Sabatino G, Pacini L, Impresari E, Capecchi I, Papini AM, Rovero P. On‐resin microwave‐assisted copper‐catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition of H1‐relaxin B single chain ‘stapled’ analogues. Pept Sci (Hoboken) 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/pep2.24159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Annunziata D'Ercole
- Laboratory of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of Chemistry ‘Ugo Schiff’University of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
- FIS Fabbrica Italiana Sintetici S.p.A Vicenza Italy
| | - Giuseppina Sabatino
- Laboratory of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of Chemistry ‘Ugo Schiff’University of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
- CNR‐IC Istituto di Cristallografia Catania Italy
| | | | - Elisa Impresari
- Laboratory of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health—Section of Pharmaceutical Sciences and NutraceuticsUniversity of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
| | - Ilaria Capecchi
- Laboratory of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health—Section of Pharmaceutical Sciences and NutraceuticsUniversity of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
| | - Anna Maria Papini
- Laboratory of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of Chemistry ‘Ugo Schiff’University of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
- CNR‐IC Istituto di Cristallografia Catania Italy
- PeptLab@UCP and Laboratory of Chemical Biology EA4505CY Cergy Paris University Cergy‐Pontoise France
| | - Paolo Rovero
- CNR‐IC Istituto di Cristallografia Catania Italy
- Laboratory of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health—Section of Pharmaceutical Sciences and NutraceuticsUniversity of Florence Sesto Fiorentino Italy
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18
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de Ávila C, Chometton S, Ma S, Pedersen LT, Timofeeva E, Cifani C, Gundlach AL. Effects of chronic silencing of relaxin-3 production in nucleus incertus neurons on food intake, body weight, anxiety-like behaviour and limbic brain activity in female rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2020; 237:1091-1106. [PMID: 31897576 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-019-05439-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Eating disorders are frequently triggered by stress and are more prevalent in women than men. First signs often appear during early adolescence, but the biological basis for the sex-specific differences is unknown. Central administration of native relaxin-3 (RLN3) peptide or chimeric/truncated analogues produces differential effects on food intake and HPA axis activity in adult male and female rats, but the precise role of endogenous RLN3 signalling in metabolic and neuroendocrine control is unclear. Therefore, we examined the effects of microRNA-induced depletion (knock-down) of RLN3 mRNA/(peptide) production in neurons of the brainstem nucleus incertus (NI) in female rats on a range of physiological, behavioural and neurochemical indices, including food intake, body weight, anxiety, plasma corticosterone, mRNA levels of key neuropeptides in the paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus (PVN) and limbic neural activity patterns (reflected by c-fos mRNA). Validated depletion of RLN3 in NI neurons of female rats (n = 8) produced a small, sustained (~ 2%) decrease in body weight, an imbalance in food intake and an increase in anxiety-like behaviour in the large open field, but not in the elevated plus-maze or light/dark box. Furthermore, NI RLN3 depletion disrupted corticosterone regulation, increased oxytocin and arginine-vasopressin, but not corticotropin-releasing factor, mRNA, in PVN, and decreased basal levels of c-fos mRNA in parvocellular and magnocellular PVN, bed nucleus of stria terminalis and the lateral hypothalamic area, brain regions involved in stress and feeding. These findings support a role for NI RLN3 neurons in fine-tuning stress and neuroendocrine responses and food intake regulation in female rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila de Ávila
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, CRIUCPQ, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, Canada. .,The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. .,NNF CBMR, Nutrient and Metabolite Sensing, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Sandrine Chometton
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, CRIUCPQ, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Sherie Ma
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Lola Torz Pedersen
- NNF CBMR, Nutrient and Metabolite Sensing, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Elena Timofeeva
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, CRIUCPQ, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Carlo Cifani
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, CRIUCPQ, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.,Pharmacology Unit, School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy
| | - Andrew L Gundlach
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
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19
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Dhayalan B, Chen YS, Phillips NB, Swain M, Rege NK, Mirsalehi A, Jarosinski M, Ismail-Beigi F, Metanis N, Weiss MA. Reassessment of an Innovative Insulin Analogue Excludes Protracted Action yet Highlights the Distinction between External and Internal Diselenide Bridges. Chemistry 2020; 26:4695-4700. [PMID: 31958351 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202000309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Long-acting insulin analogues represent the most prescribed class of therapeutic proteins. An innovative design strategy was recently proposed: diselenide substitution of an external disulfide bridge. This approach exploited the distinctive physicochemical properties of selenocysteine (U). Relative to wild type (WT), Se-insulin[C7UA , C7UB ] was reported to be protected from proteolysis by insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), predicting prolonged activity. Because of this strategy's novelty and potential clinical importance, we sought to validate these findings and test their therapeutic utility in an animal model of diabetes mellitus. Surprisingly, the analogue did not exhibit enhanced stability, and its susceptibility to cleavage by either IDE or a canonical serine protease (glutamyl endopeptidase Glu-C) was similar to WT. Moreover, the analogue's pharmacodynamic profile in rats was not prolonged relative to a rapid-acting clinical analogue (insulin lispro). Although [C7UA , C7UB ] does not confer protracted action, nonetheless its comparison to internal diselenide bridges promises to provide broad biophysical insight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Balamurugan Dhayalan
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Yen-Shan Chen
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Nelson B Phillips
- Department of Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA
| | - Mamuni Swain
- Department of Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA
| | - Nischay K Rege
- Department of Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA
| | - Ali Mirsalehi
- Department of Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA
| | - Mark Jarosinski
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA
| | - Faramarz Ismail-Beigi
- Department of Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA
| | - Norman Metanis
- The Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra, Givat Ram, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel
| | - Michael A Weiss
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA.,Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
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20
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Yang L, Li Y, Wu Y, Sun S, Song Q, Wei J, Sun L, Li M, Wang D, Zhou L. Rln3a is a prerequisite for spermatogenesis and fertility in male fish. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2020; 197:105517. [PMID: 31678357 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2019.105517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/25/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The essential roles of Relaxin3 (RLN3) in energy homeostasis had been well investigated, while the mechanisms of RLN3 regulating reproduction remain to be elusive in mammals. Although two rln3 paralogues have been characterized in several teleosts, their functions still remain largely unknown. In this study, two paralogous rln3 genes, represented as rln3a and rln3b, were identified from the testis of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Rln3a was dominantly expressed in testis, while the most abundant rln3b expression was in brain. In situ hybridization demonstrated that rln3a is abundantly expressed in the Leydig cells of the testis. To understand the role of Rln3 in the testicular development, homologous null-rln3a gene mutant line was constructed by CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Morphological observation demonstrated that null mutation of rln3a gene caused testicular hypertrophy and a significant increase of GSI. However, a significant decrease of spermatogenic cells at different phases, i.e. spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatids and sperms was found. Silencing of rln3a gene repressed the expression of key genes in germ cell and Leydig cell. Deficiency of Rln3a led to the significant decrease of 11-KT production, which stimulated the up-regulation of both FSH and LH production in the pituitary via a negative feedback manner possibly. Mutation of rln3a in XY fish led to the hypogonadism with sperm deformation, significant decrease of fertility, and sperm motility, revealing as the high mortality of the offspring obtained by crossing the wild type female and rln3a-/- XY fish. Interestingly, recombinant human RLN3 injection significantly enhanced the sperm motility in rln3a-/- XY fish. Moreover, hCG treatment stimulated the expression of steroidogenic enzyme genes and 11-KT production, which were repressed by rln3a mutation in XY fish. Taken together, this study, for the first time by using a gene knockout model, proved that Rln3a is an indispensable mediator for androgen production in testis via HPG axis, and plays an essential role in spermatogenesis, sperm motility and male fertility in fish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lanying Yang
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Yanlong Li
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - You Wu
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Shaohua Sun
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Qiang Song
- Chongqing Three Gorges Central Hospital, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Jing Wei
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Lina Sun
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Minghui Li
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Deshou Wang
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
| | - Linyan Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
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21
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Chen TY, Li X, Hung CH, Bahudhanapati H, Tan J, Kass DJ, Zhang Y. The relaxin family peptide receptor 1 (RXFP1): An emerging player in human health and disease. Mol Genet Genomic Med 2020; 8:e1194. [PMID: 32100955 PMCID: PMC7196478 DOI: 10.1002/mgg3.1194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Relaxin/relaxin family peptide receptor 1 (RXFP1) signaling is important for both normal physiology and disease. Strong preclinical evidence supports relaxin as a potent antifibrotic molecule. However, relaxin‐based therapy failed in clinical trial in patients with systemic sclerosis. We and others have discovered that aberrant expression of RXFP1 may contribute to the abnormal relaxin/RXFP1 signaling in different diseases. Reduced RXFP1 expression and alternative splicing transcripts with potential functional consequences have been observed in fibrotic tissues. A relative decrease in RXFP1 expression in fibrotic tissues—specifically lung and skin—may explain a potential insensitivity to relaxin. In addition, receptor dimerization also plays important roles in relaxin/RXFP1 signaling. Methods This review describes the tissue specific expression, characteristics of the splicing variants, and homo/heterodimerization of RXFP1 in both normal physiological function and human diseases. We discuss the potential implications of these molecular features for developing therapeutics to restore relaxin/RXFP1 signaling and to harness relaxin's potential antifibrotic effects. Results Relaxin/RXFP1 signaling is important in both normal physiology and in human diseases. Reduced expression of RXFP1 in fibrotic lung and skin tissues surrenders both relaxin/RXFP1 signaling and their responsiveness to exogenous relaxin treatments. Alternative splicing and receptor dimerization are also important in regulating relaxin/RXFP1 signaling. Conclusions Understanding the molecular mechanisms that drive aberrant expression of RXFP1 in disease and the functional roles of alternative splicing and receptor dimerization will provide insight into therapeutic targets that may restore the relaxin responsiveness of fibrotic tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting-Yun Chen
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Institute of Allied Health Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Xiaoyun Li
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Ching-Hsia Hung
- Institute of Allied Health Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Harinath Bahudhanapati
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Jiangning Tan
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Daniel J Kass
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Yingze Zhang
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Department of Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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22
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Rytova V, Ganella DE, Hawkes D, Bathgate RAD, Ma S, Gundlach AL. Chronic activation of the relaxin-3 receptor on GABA neurons in rat ventral hippocampus promotes anxiety and social avoidance. Hippocampus 2019; 29:905-920. [PMID: 30891856 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in modern society and better treatments are required. Key brain areas and signaling systems underlying anxiety include prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala, and monoaminergic and peptidergic systems, respectively. Hindbrain GABAergic projection neurons that express the peptide, relaxin-3, broadly innervate the forebrain, particularly the septum and hippocampus, and relaxin-3 acts via a Gi/o -protein-coupled receptor known as the relaxin-family peptide 3 receptor (RXFP3). Thus, relaxin-3/RXFP3 signaling is implicated in modulation of arousal, motivation, mood, memory, and anxiety. Ventral hippocampus (vHip) is central to affective and cognitive processing and displays a high density of relaxin-3-positive nerve fibers and RXFP3 binding sites, but the identity of target neurons and associated effects on behavior are unknown. Therefore, in adult, male rats, we assessed the neurochemical nature of hippocampal RXFP3 mRNA-expressing neurons and anxiety-like and social behavior following chronic RXFP3 activation in vHip by viral vector expression of an RXFP3-selective agonist peptide, R3/I5. RXFP3 mRNA detected by fluorescent in situ hybridization was topographically distributed across the hippocampus in somatostatin- and parvalbumin-mRNA expressing GABA neurons. Chronic RXFP3 activation in vHip increased anxiety-like behavior in the light-dark box and elevated-plus maze, but not the large open-field test, and reduced social interaction with a conspecific stranger. Our data reveal disruptive effects of persistent RXFP3 signaling on hippocampal GABA networks important in anxiety; and identify a potential therapeutic target for anxiety disorders that warrants further investigation in relevant preclinical models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Rytova
- Discovery Science, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Despina E Ganella
- Discovery Science, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - David Hawkes
- Discovery Science, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ross A D Bathgate
- Discovery Science, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sherie Ma
- Discovery Science, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Andrew L Gundlach
- Discovery Science, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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23
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Li X, Yang X, Hoang V, Liu YH. Characterization of Protein Disulfide Linkages by MS In-Source Dissociation Comparing to CID and ETD Tandem MS. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY 2019; 30:519-528. [PMID: 30478816 DOI: 10.1007/s13361-018-2103-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2018] [Revised: 10/18/2018] [Accepted: 11/01/2018] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Direct characterization of disulfide linkages in proteins by mass spectrometry has been challenging. Here, we report analysis of disulfide linkages in insulin variant, endothelin 3, and relaxin 2 by in-source dissociation (ISD) during LC-MS. A duplet insulin peptide from Glu-C digestion that contains peptides p1 and p2 (from chains A and B, respectively) was selected as a model peptide. This duplet peptide has an inter-chain disulfide bond between p1 and p2, and an intra-chain disulfide bond in p1. To compare the gas-phase fragmentation, it was subjected to ISD MS and MS/MS methods, including collision-induced dissociation (CID) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD). The pattern and efficiency of peptide backbone and disulfide cleavage varied with these dissociation methods. ETD, CID, and ISD were able to generate single backbone, double backbone, and triple (double backbone and single disulfide bond) cleavages in this model peptide, respectively. Specifically, CID did not cleave disulfide bonds and ETD was able to only cleave the inter-chain disulfide bond at low efficiency, limiting their usage in this disulfide analysis. In contrast, ISD was able to cleave the intra-chain disulfide bond in addition to peptide backbone, creating multiple fragment ions that allow accurate assignment of both intra- and inter-chain disulfide linkages. ISD was also successfully applied to determine double disulfide linkages in endothelin 3 and relaxin 2 peptides. This study contributes to the fundamental understanding of disulfide bond cleavages in different gas-phase fragmentations and provides an efficient cleavage strategy for identification of disulfide bonds in proteins by ISD ESI-MS. Graphical Abstract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaojuan Li
- Bioprocess Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., 2000 Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth, NJ, 07033, USA.
| | - Xiaoyu Yang
- Bioprocess Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., 2000 Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth, NJ, 07033, USA
| | - Van Hoang
- Bioprocess Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., 2000 Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth, NJ, 07033, USA
| | - Yan-Hui Liu
- Bioprocess Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., 2000 Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth, NJ, 07033, USA
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24
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Cherif--Feildel M, Berthelin CH, Rivière G, Favrel P, Kellner K. Data for evolutive analysis of insulin related peptides in bilaterian species. Data Brief 2019; 22:546-550. [PMID: 30627605 PMCID: PMC6321970 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2018.12.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2018] [Revised: 12/11/2018] [Accepted: 12/13/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
In bilaterian species, the amino acid sequence conservation between Insulin related peptides is relatively low except for the cysteine residues involved in the disulphide bonds. In the A chain, the conserved cystein residues are included in a signature motif. Investigating the variations in this motif would give insight into the phylogenetic history of the family. The table presented in this paper contains a large set of insulin-related peptides in bilateral phylogenetic groups (deuterostomian, ecdysozoan, lophotrochozoan). NCBI databases in silico wide screening combined with bibliographic researches provided a framework for identifying and categorising the structural characteristics of these insulin related peptides. The dataset includes NCBI IDs of each sequence with hyperlinks to FASTA format. Moreover, the structural type (α, β or γ), the A chain motif, the total number of cysteins, the C peptide cleavage mode and the potential additional domains (D or E) are specified for each sequence. The data are associated with the research article "Molecular evolution and functional characterisation of insulin-related peptides in molluscs: contributions of Crassostrea gigas genomic and transcriptomic-wide screening" [1]. The table presented here can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/w4gr8zcpk5.4#file-21c0f6a5-a3e3-4a15-86e0-e5a696458866.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Kristell Kellner
- Normandy University, Caen, France. University of Caen Normandie, Unity Biology of Organisms and Aquatic Ecosystems (BOREA), MNHN, Sorbonne University, UCN, CNRS, IRD, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen, France
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25
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Cherif-Feildel M, Heude Berthelin C, Adeline B, Rivière G, Favrel P, Kellner K. Molecular evolution and functional characterisation of insulin related peptides in molluscs: Contributions of Crassostrea gigas genomic and transcriptomic-wide screening. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2019; 271:15-29. [PMID: 30389328 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.10.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Revised: 10/25/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Insulin Related Peptides (IRPs) belong to the insulin superfamily and possess a typical structure with two chains, B and A, linked by disulphide bonds. As the sequence conservation is usually low between members, IRPs are classified according to the number and position of their disulphide bonds. In molluscan species, the first IRPs identified, named Molluscan Insulin-related Peptides (MIPs), exhibit four disulphide bonds. The genomic and transcriptomic data screening in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas (Mollusc, Bivalvia) allowed us to identify six IRP sequences belonging to three structural groups. Cg-MIP1 to 4 have the typical structure of MIPs with four disulphide bonds. Cg-ILP has three disulphide bonds like vertebrate Insulin-Like Peptides (ILPs). The last one, Cg-MILP7 has a significant homology with Drosophila ILP7 (DILP7) associated with two additional cysteines allowing the formation of a fourth disulphide bond. The phylogenetic analysis points out that ILPs may be the most ancestral form. Moreover, it appears that ILP7 orthologs are probably anterior to lophotrochozoa and ecdysozoa segregation. In order to investigate the diversity of physiological functions of the oyster IRPs, we combine in silico expression data, qPCR measurements and in situ hybridization. The Cg-ilp transcript, mainly detected in the digestive gland and in the gonadal area, is potentially involved in the control of digestion and gametogenesis. The expression of Cg-mip4 is mainly associated with the larval development. The Cg-mip transcript shared by the Cg-MIP1, 2 and 3, is mainly expressed in visceral ganglia but its expression was also observed in the gonads of mature males. This pattern suggested the key roles of IRPs in the control of sexual reproduction in molluscan species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maëva Cherif-Feildel
- Normandy University, Caen, France; University of Caen Normandie, Unity Biology of Organisms and Aquatic Ecosystems (BOREA), MNHN, Sorbonne University, UCN, CNRS, IRD, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Clothilde Heude Berthelin
- Normandy University, Caen, France; University of Caen Normandie, Unity Biology of Organisms and Aquatic Ecosystems (BOREA), MNHN, Sorbonne University, UCN, CNRS, IRD, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Beatrice Adeline
- Normandy University, Caen, France; University of Caen Normandie, Unity Biology of Organisms and Aquatic Ecosystems (BOREA), MNHN, Sorbonne University, UCN, CNRS, IRD, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Guillaume Rivière
- Normandy University, Caen, France; University of Caen Normandie, Unity Biology of Organisms and Aquatic Ecosystems (BOREA), MNHN, Sorbonne University, UCN, CNRS, IRD, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Pascal Favrel
- Normandy University, Caen, France; University of Caen Normandie, Unity Biology of Organisms and Aquatic Ecosystems (BOREA), MNHN, Sorbonne University, UCN, CNRS, IRD, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Kristell Kellner
- Normandy University, Caen, France; University of Caen Normandie, Unity Biology of Organisms and Aquatic Ecosystems (BOREA), MNHN, Sorbonne University, UCN, CNRS, IRD, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen, France.
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26
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Wong LLL, Scott DJ, Hossain MA, Kaas Q, Rosengren KJ, Bathgate RAD. Distinct but overlapping binding sites of agonist and antagonist at the relaxin family peptide 3 (RXFP3) receptor. J Biol Chem 2018; 293:15777-15789. [PMID: 30131340 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra118.002645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2018] [Revised: 08/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The relaxin-3 neuropeptide activates the relaxin family peptide 3 (RXFP3) receptor to modulate stress, appetite, and cognition. RXFP3 shows promise as a target for treating neurological disorders, but realization of its clinical potential requires development of smaller RXFP3-specific drugs that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Designing such drugs is challenging and requires structural knowledge of agonist- and antagonist-binding modes. Here, we used structure-activity data for relaxin-3 and a peptide RXFP3 antagonist termed R3 B1-22R to guide receptor mutagenesis and develop models of their binding modes. RXFP3 residues were alanine-substituted individually and in combination and tested in cell-based binding and functional assays to refine models of agonist and antagonist binding to active- and inactive-state homology models of RXFP3, respectively. These models suggested that both agonists and antagonists interact with RXFP3 via similar residues in their B-chain central helix. The models further suggested that the B-chain Trp27 inserts into the binding pocket of RXFP3 and interacts with Trp138 and Lys271, the latter through a salt bridge with the C-terminal carboxyl group of Trp27 in relaxin-3. R3 B1-22R, which does not contain Trp27, used a non-native Arg23 residue to form cation-π and salt-bridge interactions with Trp138 and Glu141 in RXFP3, explaining a key contribution of Arg23 to affinity. Overall, relaxin-3 and R3 B1-22R appear to share similar binding residues but may differ in binding modes, leading to active and inactive RXFP3 conformational states, respectively. These mechanistic insights may assist structure-based drug design of smaller relaxin-3 mimetics to manage neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel James Scott
- From the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and
| | - Mohammed Akhter Hossain
- From the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.,School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia and
| | | | - K Johan Rosengren
- Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Ross A D Bathgate
- From the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, .,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and
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27
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Libbrecht R, Oxley PR, Kronauer DJC. Clonal raider ant brain transcriptomics identifies candidate molecular mechanisms for reproductive division of labor. BMC Biol 2018; 16:89. [PMID: 30103762 PMCID: PMC6090591 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-018-0558-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2018] [Accepted: 07/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Division of labor between reproductive queens and workers that perform brood care is a hallmark of insect societies. However, studies of the molecular basis of this fundamental dichotomy are limited by the fact that the caste of an individual cannot typically be experimentally manipulated at the adult stage. Here we take advantage of the unique biology of the clonal raider ant, Ooceraea biroi, to study brain gene expression dynamics during experimentally induced transitions between reproductive and brood care behavior. RESULTS Introducing larvae that inhibit reproduction and induce brood care behavior causes much faster changes in adult gene expression than removing larvae. In addition, the general patterns of gene expression differ depending on whether ants transition from reproduction to brood care or vice versa, indicating that gene expression changes between phases are cyclic rather than pendular. Finally, we identify genes that could play upstream roles in regulating reproduction and behavior because they show large and early expression changes in one or both transitions. CONCLUSIONS Our analyses reveal that the nature and timing of gene expression changes differ substantially depending on the direction of the transition, and identify a suite of promising candidate molecular regulators of reproductive division of labor that can now be characterized further in both social and solitary animal models. This study contributes to understanding the molecular regulation of reproduction and behavior, as well as the organization and evolution of insect societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romain Libbrecht
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Johannes-von-Müller-Weg 6, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
| | - Peter R Oxley
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA
- Samuel J. Wood Library, Weill Cornell Medicine, 1300 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA
| | - Daniel J C Kronauer
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
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28
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Bathgate RA, Kocan M, Scott DJ, Hossain MA, Good SV, Yegorov S, Bogerd J, Gooley PR. The relaxin receptor as a therapeutic target – perspectives from evolution and drug targeting. Pharmacol Ther 2018; 187:114-132. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2018.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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29
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Maruyama S, Wu CL, Yoshida S, Zhang D, Li PH, Wu F, Parker Duffen J, Yao R, Jardin B, Adham IM, Law R, Berger J, Di Marchi R, Walsh K. Relaxin Family Member Insulin-Like Peptide 6 Ameliorates Cardiac Fibrosis and Prevents Cardiac Remodeling in Murine Heart Failure Models. J Am Heart Assoc 2018; 7:e008441. [PMID: 29887522 PMCID: PMC6220528 DOI: 10.1161/jaha.117.008441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The insulin/insulin-like growth factor/relaxin family represents a group of structurally related but functionally diverse proteins. The family member relaxin-2 has been evaluated in clinical trials for its efficacy in the treatment of acute heart failure. In this study, we assessed the role of insulin-like peptide 6 (INSL6), another member of this protein family, in murine heart failure models using genetic loss-of-function and protein delivery methods. METHODS AND RESULTS Insl6-deficient and wild-type (C57BL/6N) mice were administered angiotensin II or isoproterenol via continuous infusion with an osmotic pump or via intraperitoneal injection once a day, respectively, for 2 weeks. In both models, Insl6-knockout mice exhibited greater cardiac systolic dysfunction and left ventricular dilatation. Cardiac dysfunction in the Insl6-knockout mice was associated with more extensive cardiac fibrosis and greater expression of fibrosis-associated genes. The continuous infusion of chemically synthesized INSL6 significantly attenuated left ventricular systolic dysfunction and cardiac fibrosis induced by isoproterenol infusion. Gene expression profiling suggests liver X receptor/retinoid X receptor signaling is activated in the isoproterenol-challenged hearts treated with INSL6 protein. CONCLUSIONS Endogenous Insl6 protein inhibits cardiac systolic dysfunction and cardiac fibrosis in angiotensin II- and isoproterenol-induced cardiac stress models. The administration of recombinant INSL6 protein could have utility for the treatment of heart failure and cardiac fibrosis.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Disease Models, Animal
- Fibrosis
- Heart Failure/metabolism
- Heart Failure/pathology
- Heart Failure/physiopathology
- Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/metabolism
- Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/pathology
- Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/physiopathology
- Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/prevention & control
- Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
- Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/deficiency
- Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/genetics
- Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism
- Liver X Receptors/genetics
- Liver X Receptors/metabolism
- Male
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice, Knockout
- Myocardium/metabolism
- Myocardium/pathology
- Retinoid X Receptors/genetics
- Retinoid X Receptors/metabolism
- Signal Transduction
- Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/metabolism
- Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/pathology
- Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/physiopathology
- Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/prevention & control
- Ventricular Function, Left
- Ventricular Remodeling
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonomi Maruyama
- Molecular Cardiology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | - Chia-Ling Wu
- Molecular Cardiology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | - Sumiko Yoshida
- Molecular Cardiology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | - Dongying Zhang
- Molecular Cardiology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | - Pei-Hsuan Li
- Molecular Cardiology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | - Fangzhou Wu
- Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
| | - Jennifer Parker Duffen
- Molecular Cardiology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | - Rouan Yao
- Molecular Cardiology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | - Blake Jardin
- Molecular Cardiology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
| | - Ibrahim M Adham
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ronald Law
- New Frontier Science, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International Co, Cambridge, MA
| | - Joel Berger
- New Frontier Science, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International Co, Cambridge, MA
| | | | - Kenneth Walsh
- Molecular Cardiology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
- Center for Hematovascular Biology, Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA
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30
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Haselman JT, Kosian PA, Korte JJ, Olmstead AW, Degitz SJ. Effects of multiple life stage exposure to the fungicide prochloraz in Xenopus laevis: Manifestations of antiandrogenic and other modes of toxicity. AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2018; 199:240-251. [PMID: 29674245 PMCID: PMC6299828 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2018.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2017] [Revised: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2018] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
The Larval Amphibian Growth and Development Assay (LAGDA) is an internationally harmonized testing guideline for evaluating effects of chronic chemical exposure in amphibians. In order to evaluate the effects of chronic exposure to an antiandrogenic chemical in an amphibian model, prochloraz was tested using a variation of the LAGDA design. Exposure was initiated with <1d post-fertilization embryos at nominal concentrations of 0, 6.7, 20, 60 and 180 μg/L (0, 18, 53, 159, 478 nM) and continued in flow-through conditions until two months following the median time that controls completed metamorphosis. Growth, developmental rate, circulating thyroid hormone and thyroid gland histopathology were evaluated in a subsample at completion of metamorphosis. There were no effects on growth or development at this stage, but circulating thyroid hormone was elevated in the 20, 60 and 180 μg/L treatments and minimal to mild thyroid follicular cell hypertrophy was observed histologically in the 180 μg/L treatment. Growth, overt toxicity, and reproductive development were evaluated at test termination. There were no effects on growth in either gender, but livers and kidneys exhibited treatment-related pathologies consistent with organ toxicity related to metabolism and presumably impaired excretion of prochloraz metabolites. Histological assessments of female ovaries resulted in minimal pathologies only in the 180 μg/L treatment while male testes exhibited numerous treatment-related pathologies that are consistent with previously reported antiandrogenic effects of prochloraz in other species. The most severe testis pathologies occurred in the 180 μg/L treatment; however, incidences of treatment-related pathologies occurred in all prochloraz treatments. Müllerian duct regression in males was inhibited by prochloraz exposure while Müllerian duct maturation in females was accelerated, characteristic of a feminizing effect. Gene expression levels of potential biomarkers of testis function were also measured. Relative abundance of cyp17a1 transcripts was generally unaffected by prochloraz exposure whereas the Insl3 orthologue, rflcii, was elevated by 3 and >5-fold in the 60 and 180 μg/L treatments, respectively, indicating impaired Leydig cell maturation and testosterone signaling. Overall, prochloraz exposure caused effects characteristic of an antiandrogenic mode of action, which is consistent with previously reported results in other species and supports the utility of the LAGDA design for chemical testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan T Haselman
- US EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division, 6201 Congdon Blvd, Duluth, MN, 55804, USA.
| | - Patricia A Kosian
- US EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division, 6201 Congdon Blvd, Duluth, MN, 55804, USA.
| | - Joseph J Korte
- US EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division, 6201 Congdon Blvd, Duluth, MN, 55804, USA.
| | - Allen W Olmstead
- US EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division, 6201 Congdon Blvd, Duluth, MN, 55804, USA.
| | - Sigmund J Degitz
- US EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division, 6201 Congdon Blvd, Duluth, MN, 55804, USA.
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Lam M, Royce SG, Samuel CS, Bourke JE. Serelaxin as a novel therapeutic opposing fibrosis and contraction in lung diseases. Pharmacol Ther 2018; 187:61-70. [PMID: 29447958 DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2018.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The most common therapies for asthma and other chronic lung diseases are anti-inflammatory agents and bronchodilators. While these drugs oppose disease symptoms, they do not reverse established structural changes in the airways and their therapeutic efficacy is reduced with increasing disease severity. The peptide hormone, relaxin, is a Relaxin Family Peptide Receptor 1 (RXFP1) receptor agonist with unique combined effects in the lung that differentiates it from these existing therapies. Relaxin has previously been reported to have cardioprotective effects in acute heart failure as well anti-fibrotic actions in several organs. This review focuses on recent experimental evidence of the beneficial effects of chronic relaxin treatment in animal models of airways disease demonstrating inhibition of airway hyperresponsiveness and reversal of established fibrosis, consistent with potential therapeutic benefit. Of particular interest, accumulating evidence demonstrates that relaxin can also acutely oppose contraction by reducing the release of mast cell-derived bronchoconstrictors and by directly eliciting bronchodilation. When used in combination, chronic and acute treatment with relaxin has been shown to enhance responsiveness to both glucocorticoids and β2-adrenoceptor agonists respectively. While the mechanisms underlying these beneficial actions remain to be fully elucidated, translation of these promising combined preclinical findings is critical in the development of relaxin as a novel alternative or adjunct therapeutic opposing multiple aspects of airway pathology in lung diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maggie Lam
- Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Simon G Royce
- Department of Medicine, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Chrishan S Samuel
- Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Jane E Bourke
- Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
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Ma S, Hangya B, Leonard CS, Wisden W, Gundlach AL. Dual-transmitter systems regulating arousal, attention, learning and memory. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 85:21-33. [PMID: 28757457 PMCID: PMC5747977 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2017] [Accepted: 07/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
An array of neuromodulators, including monoamines and neuropeptides, regulate most behavioural and physiological traits. In the past decade, dramatic progress has been made in mapping neuromodulatory circuits, in analysing circuit dynamics, and interrogating circuit function using pharmacogenetic, optogenetic and imaging methods This review will focus on several distinct neural networks (acetylcholine/GABA/glutamate; histamine/GABA; orexin/glutamate; and relaxin-3/GABA) that originate from neural hubs that regulate wakefulness and related attentional and cognitive processes, and highlight approaches that have identified dual transmitter roles in these behavioural functions. Modulation of these different neural networks might be effective treatments of diseases related to arousal/sleep dysfunction and of cognitive dysfunction in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sherie Ma
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Balázs Hangya
- 'Lendület' Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience, Department of Cellular and Network Neurobiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | - William Wisden
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Andrew L Gundlach
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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Venditti M, Donizetti A, Fiengo M, Fasano C, Santillo A, Aniello F, Minucci S. Temporal and spatial expression of insulin-like peptide (insl5a and insl5b) paralog genes during the embryogenesis of Danio rerio. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2018; 330:33-40. [PMID: 29319231 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Revised: 10/31/2017] [Accepted: 12/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Relaxin (RLN) and insulin (INSL)-like peptides are member of the INSL/RLN superfamily, which are encoded by seven genes in humans and can activate the G-protein coupled receptor RXFP 1-4. These peptides evolved from a common ancestor, RLN3-like gene. Two rounds of whole genome duplication (WGD) in early vertebrate evolution, together with an additional WGD in the teleost lineage, caused an expansion of RLN genes set in the genome of Danio rerio. In particular, six RLN genes are present: a single copy of rln and insl3 genes, and two paralogs for the rln3 gene (rln3a and rln3b), and the insl5 gene (insl5a and insl5b). We have already reported the presence of rln3a and rln3b genes in the developing zebrafish brain, as well as the expression of rln gene in the developing zebrafish brain and extraneural territories, such as thyroid gland and pancreas. Here, we report for the first time the expression of the two parologs genes for insl5, insl5a, and insl5b in D. rerio embryonic development. The corresponding transcripts of both the paralogs are present in all embryonic stages analyzed by RT-qPCR. In situ hybridization analyses showed a restricted signal in intestinal cells and the pancreatic region at 72 hpf for insl5a, while at 96 hpf both genes are expressed in specific intestinal cells. Furthermore, in adult zebrafish intestine tissue, in situ hybridation experiments showed that insl5a transcript is specifically localized in the goblet cells, while insl5b transcript is in enteroendocrine cells. These data revealed a high degree of gene expression pattern conservation for such genes in vertebrate evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Venditti
- Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Sez. Fisiologia Umana e Funzioni Biologiche Integrate, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli, Napoli, Italy
| | - Aldo Donizetti
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli "Federico II, Napoli, Italy
| | - Marcella Fiengo
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli "Federico II, Napoli, Italy
| | - Chiara Fasano
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli "Federico II, Napoli, Italy
| | - Alessandra Santillo
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Francesco Aniello
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli "Federico II, Napoli, Italy
| | - Sergio Minucci
- Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Sez. Fisiologia Umana e Funzioni Biologiche Integrate, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli, Napoli, Italy
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Southey BR, Romanova EV, Rodriguez-Zas SL, Sweedler JV. Bioinformatics for Prohormone and Neuropeptide Discovery. Methods Mol Biol 2018; 1719:71-96. [PMID: 29476505 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7537-2_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Neuropeptides and peptide hormones are signaling molecules produced via complex post-translational modifications of precursor proteins known as prohormones. Neuropeptides activate specific receptors and are associated with the regulation of physiological systems and behaviors. The identification of prohormones-and the neuropeptides created by these prohormones-from genomic assemblies has become essential to support the annotation and use of the rapidly growing number of sequenced genomes. Here we describe a methodology for identifying the prohormone complement from genomic assemblies that employs widely available public toolsets and databases. The uncovered prohormone sequences can then be screened for putative neuropeptides to enable accurate proteomic discovery and validation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce R Southey
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Elena V Romanova
- Department of Chemistry and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Sandra L Rodriguez-Zas
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Jonathan V Sweedler
- Department of Chemistry and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
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Nistor M, Schmidt M, Schiffner R. The relaxin peptide family - potential future hope for neuroprotective therapy? A short review. Neural Regen Res 2018; 13:402-405. [PMID: 29623915 PMCID: PMC5900493 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.228713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Since its discovery in the 1920's the relaxin peptide hormone family has not only grown in number to now seven members (relaxin-1, relaxin-2, relaxin-3, insulin-like peptide (INSL) 3, INSL4, INSL5 and INSL6), but ever more effects, suchs as vasodilatory, angiogenic, anti-apoptopic, anti-fibriotic and anti-inflammatory, have been linked to them. While relaxin-2 has mainly been investigated in the context of cardiac protection, most comprehensively in the RELAX-AHF and RELAX AHF2 studies, a small number of studies have furthermore assessed the potential neuroprotective effects of especially relaxin-2 and other members of the relaxin family. In this short review we summarise and discuss recent efforts to utilize relaxin hormones for neuroprotection and point out potential future fields of research and translational applications. While many questions still need to be answered, the promising results of the available studies definitely warrant future well-designed studies on neuroprotection by relaxin peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marius Nistor
- Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Martin Schmidt
- Institute for Biochemistry II, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - René Schiffner
- Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University; Orthopaedic Department, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
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de Ávila C, Chometton S, Lenglos C, Calvez J, Gundlach AL, Timofeeva E. Differential effects of relaxin-3 and a selective relaxin-3 receptor agonist on food and water intake and hypothalamic neuronal activity in rats. Behav Brain Res 2018; 336:135-144. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.08.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2017] [Revised: 08/21/2017] [Accepted: 08/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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Heidari S, Taromchi A, Nejatbakhsh R, Shokri S. Expression and localisation of RXFP3 in human spermatozoa and impact of INSL7 on sperm functions. Andrologia 2017; 50. [DOI: 10.1111/and.12928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/24/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- S. Heidari
- Department of Medical Genetics and Molecular Medicine; Faculty of Medicine; Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS); Zanjan Iran
| | - A.H. Taromchi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology and Nanotechnology; Faculty of Medicine; Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS); Zanjan Iran
| | - R. Nejatbakhsh
- Department of Anatomical Sciences; Faculty of Medicine; Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS); Zanjan Iran
| | - S. Shokri
- Department of Anatomical Sciences; Faculty of Medicine; Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS); Zanjan Iran
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Yeganeh IS, Taromchi AH, Fathabadi FF, Nejatbakhsh R, Novin MG, Shokri S. Expression and localization of relaxin family peptide receptor 4 in human spermatozoa and impact of insulin-like peptide 5 on sperm functions. Reprod Biol 2017; 17:327-332. [PMID: 28986276 DOI: 10.1016/j.repbio.2017.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2017] [Revised: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Insulin-like peptide 5 (INSL5) is a member of the insulin superfamily peptide that interacts with the relaxin family peptide receptor 4 (RXFP4). Numerous recent studies have focused on the functional effects of INSL5 on fat and glucose metabolism. Although there is no evidence that the human sperm may be a candidate target of INSL5, it has been detected in mice testis and sperm. Therefore, the present study sought to analyze the localization and expression of RXFP4 on human sperm and determine the efficiency of INSL5 in human sperm. Normal semen samples were incubated in different doses and exposure time periods of INSL5. We analyzed sperm motility by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) and ROS levels by flow cytometry using the MitoSOX™ Red probe. Localization and expression of RXFP4 were assayed by immunofluorescence and RT-PCR, respectively. The results confirmed the presence of RXFP4 in human spermatozoa, which localized in the neck and midpiece of sperm. Nested PCR showed the expression of RXFP4 in human sperm. INSL5 could attenuate generation of mitochondrial ROS at the 1, 10, 30, and 100nmol/L doses. This result was particularly noted in the 30nmol/L treated samples after 4h incubation. Total motility of sperm was significantly preserved in the 100nmol/L after 2h and in 30nmol/L after 4h incubation period. This study, for the first time, clarified the expression and localization of RXFP4 on human sperm and revealed the role of INSL5 in sperm motility and mitochondrial ROS generation in a dose-dependent manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Imaneh Shamayeli Yeganeh
- Department of Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Ph.D. Student in Anatomical Sciences, International Branch, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Amir Hossein Taromchi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology and Nanotechnology, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS), Zanjan, Iran.
| | - Fatemeh Fadaei Fathabadi
- Department of Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Reza Nejatbakhsh
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS), Zanjan, Iran.
| | - Marefat Ghaffari Novin
- Department of Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Saeed Shokri
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS), Zanjan, Iran.
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Malone L, Opazo JC, Ryan PL, Hoffmann FG. Progressive erosion of the Relaxin1 gene in bovids. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2017; 252:12-17. [PMID: 28733228 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2017.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2017] [Revised: 06/20/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The relaxin/insulin-like (RLN/INSL) gene family is a group of genes that encode peptide hormones involved in a variety of physiological functions related to reproduction. Previous studies have shown that relaxin plays a key role in widening of the pubic bone during labor and in gamete maturation. Because of these functions, studying the evolution of RLN1, the gene encoding for relaxin, is relevant in livestock species, most of which belong in the group Laurasiatheria, which includes cow, pig, horse, goat, and sheep in addition to bats, cetaceans and carnivores. Experimental evidence suggests that cows do not synthesize relaxin, but respond to it, and sheep apparently have a truncated RLN1 gene. Thus, we made use of genome sequence data to characterize the genomic locus of the RLN1 gene in Laurasiatherian mammals to better understand how cows lost the ability to synthesize this peptide. We found that all ruminants in our study (cow, giraffe, goat, sheep and Tibetan antelope) lack a functional RLN1 gene, and document the progressive loss of RLN1 in the lineage leading to cows. Our analyses indicate that 1 - all ruminants have lost all key regulatory elements upstream of the first exon, 2 - giraffe, goat, sheep and Tibetan antelope have multiple inactivating mutations in the RLN1 pseudogene, and 3 - the cow genome has lost all traces of RLN1. The 5' regulatory sequence plays a key role in activating expression, and the loss of this sequence would impair synthesis of mRNA. Our results suggest that changes in regulatory sequence preceded mutations in coding sequence and highlight the importance of these regions in maintaining proper gene function. In addition, we found that all bovids examined posses copies of the relaxin receptors, which explains why they are able to respond to relaxin despite their inability to produce it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Loggan Malone
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, MS 39762, USA
| | - Juan C Opazo
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Peter L Ryan
- Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Facility for Organismal and Cellular Imaging (FOCI), Mississippi State University, MS 39762, USA; Department of Pathobiology & Population Medicine, Mississippi State University, MS 39762, USA
| | - Federico G Hoffmann
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, MS 39762, USA; Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing, and Biotechnology, Mississippi State University, MS 39762, USA.
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Hossain MA, Bathgate RAD. Challenges in the design of insulin and relaxin/insulin-like peptide mimetics. Bioorg Med Chem 2017; 26:2827-2841. [PMID: 28988628 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2017.09.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2017] [Revised: 09/19/2017] [Accepted: 09/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Peptidomimetics are designed to overcome the poor pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics associated with the native peptide or protein on which they are based. The design of peptidomimetics starts from developing structure-activity relationships of the native ligand-target pair that identify the key residues that are responsible for the biological effect of the native peptide or protein. Then minimization of the structure and introduction of constraints are applied to create the core active site that can interact with the target with high affinity and selectivity. Developing peptidomimetics is not trivial and often challenging, particularly when peptides' interaction mechanism with their target is complex. This review will discuss the challenges of developing peptidomimetics of therapeutically important insulin superfamily peptides, particularly those which have two chains (A and B) and three disulfide bonds and whose receptors are known, namely insulin, H2 relaxin, H3 relaxin, INSL3 and INSL5.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammed Akhter Hossain
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.
| | - Ross A D Bathgate
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.
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Wang D, Luo Y, Myakala K, Orlicky DJ, Dobrinskikh E, Wang X, Levi M. Serelaxin improves cardiac and renal function in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats. Sci Rep 2017; 7:9793. [PMID: 28851937 PMCID: PMC5574886 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-09470-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2017] [Accepted: 07/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Serelaxin, a recombinant form of the naturally occurring peptide hormone relaxin-2, is a pleiotropic vasodilating hormone that has been studied in patients with acute heart failure. In this study, the effects of serelaxin on cardiac and renal function, fibrosis, inflammation and lipid accumulation were studied in DOCA-salt treated rats. Uninephrectomized rats were assigned to two groups: controls provided with normal drinking water and DOCA provided with DOCA pellets and sodium chloride drinking water. After 4 weeks, the DOCA-salt rats were randomly selected and implanted with osmotic minipumps delivering vehicle or serelaxin for another 4 weeks. Treatment with serelaxin prevented cardiac and renal dysfunction in DOCA-salt rats. Serelaxin prevented cardiac and renal fibrosis, as determined by Picrosirius Red staining and Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) Microscopy. Treatment of DOCA-salt rats with serelaxin decreased renal inflammation, including the expression of TGF-β, NFκB, MCP-1, IL-1, IL-6, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and CD68 macrophages. Serelaxin also decreased lipid accumulation in kidney in part by decreasing SREBP-1c, SREBP-2, ChREBP, FATP1, HMGCoAR, and LDL receptor, and increasing Acox1 and ABCA1. In summary, serelaxin reversed DOCA-salt induced cardiac and renal dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Wang
- Renal Diseases and Hypertension, School of Medicine, University of Colorado ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS, Aurora, Colorado, 80045, USA
| | - Yuhuan Luo
- Renal Diseases and Hypertension, School of Medicine, University of Colorado ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS, Aurora, Colorado, 80045, USA
| | - Komuraiah Myakala
- Renal Diseases and Hypertension, School of Medicine, University of Colorado ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS, Aurora, Colorado, 80045, USA
| | - David J Orlicky
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS, Aurora, Colorado, 80045, USA
| | - Evgenia Dobrinskikh
- Renal Diseases and Hypertension, School of Medicine, University of Colorado ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS, Aurora, Colorado, 80045, USA
| | - Xiaoxin Wang
- Renal Diseases and Hypertension, School of Medicine, University of Colorado ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS, Aurora, Colorado, 80045, USA
| | - Moshe Levi
- Renal Diseases and Hypertension, School of Medicine, University of Colorado ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS, Aurora, Colorado, 80045, USA.
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Feijóo-Bandín S, Aragón-Herrera A, Rodríguez-Penas D, Portolés M, Roselló-Lletí E, Rivera M, González-Juanatey JR, Lago F. Relaxin-2 in Cardiometabolic Diseases: Mechanisms of Action and Future Perspectives. Front Physiol 2017; 8:599. [PMID: 28868039 PMCID: PMC5563388 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2017] [Accepted: 08/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the great effort of the medical community during the last decades, cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide, increasing their prevalence every year mainly due to our new way of life. In the last years, the study of new hormones implicated in the regulation of energy metabolism and inflammation has raised a great interest among the scientific community regarding their implications in the development of cardiometabolic diseases. In this review, we will summarize the main actions of relaxin, a pleiotropic hormone that was previously suggested to improve acute heart failure and that participates in both metabolism and inflammation regulation at cardiovascular level, and will discuss its potential as future therapeutic target to prevent/reduce cardiovascular diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Feijóo-Bandín
- Cellular and Molecular Cardiology Research Unit, Institute of Biomedical Research and University Clinical HospitalSantiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades CardiovascularesMadrid, Spain
| | - Alana Aragón-Herrera
- Cellular and Molecular Cardiology Research Unit, Institute of Biomedical Research and University Clinical HospitalSantiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Diego Rodríguez-Penas
- Cellular and Molecular Cardiology Research Unit, Institute of Biomedical Research and University Clinical HospitalSantiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Manuel Portolés
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades CardiovascularesMadrid, Spain
- Cardiocirculatory Unit, Health Research Institute of La Fe University HospitalValencia, Spain
| | - Esther Roselló-Lletí
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades CardiovascularesMadrid, Spain
- Cardiocirculatory Unit, Health Research Institute of La Fe University HospitalValencia, Spain
| | - Miguel Rivera
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades CardiovascularesMadrid, Spain
- Cardiocirculatory Unit, Health Research Institute of La Fe University HospitalValencia, Spain
| | - José R. González-Juanatey
- Cellular and Molecular Cardiology Research Unit, Institute of Biomedical Research and University Clinical HospitalSantiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades CardiovascularesMadrid, Spain
| | - Francisca Lago
- Cellular and Molecular Cardiology Research Unit, Institute of Biomedical Research and University Clinical HospitalSantiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades CardiovascularesMadrid, Spain
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Patil NA, Rosengren KJ, Separovic F, Wade JD, Bathgate RAD, Hossain MA. Relaxin family peptides: structure-activity relationship studies. Br J Pharmacol 2017; 174:950-961. [PMID: 27922185 DOI: 10.1111/bph.13684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2016] [Revised: 11/25/2016] [Accepted: 11/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The human relaxin peptide family consists of seven cystine-rich peptides, four of which are known to signal through relaxin family peptide receptors, RXFP1-4. As these peptides play a vital role physiologically and in various diseases, they are of considerable importance for drug discovery and development. Detailed structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies towards understanding the role of important residues in each of these peptides have been reported over the years and utilized for the design of antagonists and minimized agonist variants. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the SAR of human relaxin 2 (H2 relaxin), human relaxin 3 (H3 relaxin), human insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) and human insulin-like peptide 5 (INSL5). LINKED ARTICLES This article is part of a themed section on Recent Progress in the Understanding of Relaxin Family Peptides and their Receptors. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.10/issuetoc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nitin A Patil
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.,School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - K Johan Rosengren
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Frances Separovic
- School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - John D Wade
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.,School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Ross A D Bathgate
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Mohammed Akhter Hossain
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.,School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
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Jayakody T, Marwari S, Lakshminarayanan R, Tan FCK, Johannes CW, Dymock BW, Poulsen A, Herr DR, Dawe GS. Hydrocarbon stapled B chain analogues of relaxin-3 retain biological activity. Peptides 2016; 84:44-57. [PMID: 27498038 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2016.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2015] [Revised: 07/29/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Relaxin-3 or insulin-like peptide 7 (INSL7) is the most recently discovered relaxin/insulin-like family peptide. Mature relaxin-3 consists of an A chain and a B chain held by disulphide bonds. According to structure activity relationship studies, the relaxin-3 B chain is more important in binding and activating the receptor. RXFP3 (also known as Relaxin-3 receptor 1, GPCR 135, somatostatin- and angiotensin- like peptide receptor or SALPR) was identified as the cognate receptor for relaxin-3 by expression profiles and binding studies. Recent studies imply roles of this system in mediating stress and anxiety, feeding, metabolism and cognition. Stapling of peptides is a technique used to develop peptide drugs for otherwise undruggable targets. The main advantages of stapling include, increased activity due to reduced proteolysis, increased affinity to receptors and increased cell permeability. Stable agonists and antagonists of RXFP3 are crucial for understanding the physiological significance of this system. So far, agonists and antagonists of RXFP3 are peptides. In this study, for the first time, we have introduced stapling of the relaxin-3 B chain at 14th and 18th positions (14s18) and 18th and 22nd position (18s22). These stapled peptides showed greater helicity than the unstapled relaxin-3 B chain in circular dichroism analysis. Both stapled peptides bound RXFP3 and activated RXFP3 as observed in an inhibition of forskolin-induced cAMP assay and a ERK1/2 activation assay, although with different potencies. Therefore, we conclude that stapling of the relaxin3 B chain does not compromise its ability to activate RXFP3 and is a promising method for developing stable peptide agonists and antagonists of RXFP3 to aid relaxin-3/RXFP3 research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tharindunee Jayakody
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Neurobiology and Ageing Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Subhi Marwari
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Rajamani Lakshminarayanan
- Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore; Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
| | - Francis Chee Kuan Tan
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Charles William Johannes
- Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
| | - Brian William Dymock
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Anders Poulsen
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Experimental Therapeutics Centre, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
| | - Deron Raymond Herr
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Gavin Stewart Dawe
- Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Neurobiology and Ageing Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), National University of Singapore, Singapore.
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Marshall SA, Senadheera SN, Parry LJ, Girling JE. The Role of Relaxin in Normal and Abnormal Uterine Function During the Menstrual Cycle and Early Pregnancy. Reprod Sci 2016; 24:342-354. [DOI: 10.1177/1933719116657189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A. Marshall
- School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Laura J. Parry
- School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jane E. Girling
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Gynaecology Research Centre, The University of Melbourne and Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Hu CK, Southey BR, Romanova EV, Maruska KP, Sweedler JV, Fernald RD. Identification of prohormones and pituitary neuropeptides in the African cichlid, Astatotilapia burtoni. BMC Genomics 2016; 17:660. [PMID: 27543050 PMCID: PMC4992253 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-016-2914-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2016] [Accepted: 07/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Cichlid fishes have evolved remarkably diverse reproductive, social, and feeding behaviors. Cell-to-cell signaling molecules, notably neuropeptides and peptide hormones, are known to regulate these behaviors across vertebrates. This class of signaling molecules derives from prohormone genes that have undergone multiple duplications and losses in fishes. Whether and how subfunctionalization, neofunctionalization, or losses of neuropeptides and peptide hormones have contributed to fish behavioral diversity is largely unknown. Information on fish prohormones has been limited and is complicated by the whole genome duplication of the teleost ancestor. We combined bioinformatics, mass spectrometry-enabled peptidomics, and molecular techniques to identify the suite of neuropeptide prohormones and pituitary peptide products in Astatotilapia burtoni, a well-studied member of the diverse African cichlid clade. Results Utilizing the A. burtoni genome, we identified 148 prohormone genes, with 21 identified as a single copy and 39 with at least 2 duplicated copies. Retention of prohormone duplicates was therefore 41 %, which is markedly above previous reports for the genome-wide average in teleosts. Beyond the expected whole genome duplication, differences between cichlids and mammals can be attributed to gene loss in tetrapods and additional duplication after divergence. Mass spectrometric analysis of the pituitary identified 620 unique peptide sequences that were matched to 120 unique proteins. Finally, we used in situ hybridization to localize the expression of galanin, a prohormone with exceptional sequence divergence in cichlids, as well as the expression of a proopiomelanocortin, prohormone that has undergone an additional duplication in some bony fish lineages. Conclusion We characterized the A. burtoni prohormone complement. Two thirds of prohormone families contain duplications either from the teleost whole genome duplication or a more recent duplication. Our bioinformatic and mass spectrometric findings provide information on a major vertebrate clade that will further our understanding of the functional ramifications of these prohormone losses, duplications, and sequence changes across vertebrate evolution. In the context of the cichlid radiation, these findings will also facilitate the exploration of neuropeptide and peptide hormone function in behavioral diversity both within A. burtoni and across cichlid and other fish species. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2914-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline K Hu
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.,Present address: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Bruce R Southey
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Elena V Romanova
- Department of Chemistry and the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Karen P Maruska
- Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA
| | - Jonathan V Sweedler
- Department of Chemistry and the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Russell D Fernald
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
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Hojo K, Hossain MA, Tailhades J, Shabanpoor F, Wong LLL, Ong-Pålsson EEK, Kastman HE, Ma S, Gundlach AL, Rosengren KJ, Wade JD, Bathgate RAD. Development of a Single-Chain Peptide Agonist of the Relaxin-3 Receptor Using Hydrocarbon Stapling. J Med Chem 2016; 59:7445-56. [PMID: 27464307 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Structure-activity studies of the insulin superfamily member, relaxin-3, have shown that its G protein-coupled receptor (RXFP3) binding site is contained within its central B-chain α-helix and this helical structure is essential for receptor activation. We sought to develop a single B-chain mimetic that retained agonist activity. This was achieved by use of solid phase peptide synthesis together with on-resin ruthenium-catalyzed ring closure metathesis of a pair of judiciously placed i,i+4 α-methyl, α-alkenyl amino acids. The resulting hydrocarbon stapled peptide was shown by solution NMR spectroscopy to mimic the native helical conformation of relaxin-3 and to possess potent RXFP3 receptor binding and activation. Alternative stapling procedures were unsuccessful, highlighting the critical need to carefully consider both the peptide sequence and stapling methodology for optimal outcomes. Our result is the first successful minimization of an insulin-like peptide to a single-chain α-helical peptide agonist which will facilitate study of the function of relaxin-3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiko Hojo
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Cooperative Research Center of Life Sciences, Kobe Gakuin University , Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-8586, Japan
| | - Mohammed Akhter Hossain
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.,School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Julien Tailhades
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Fazel Shabanpoor
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.,School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Lilian L L Wong
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Emma E K Ong-Pålsson
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Hanna E Kastman
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Sherie Ma
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Andrew L Gundlach
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.,Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - K Johan Rosengren
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - John D Wade
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.,School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Ross A D Bathgate
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia
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Calvez J, de Ávila C, Timofeeva E. Sex-specific effects of relaxin-3 on food intake and body weight gain. Br J Pharmacol 2016; 174:1049-1060. [PMID: 27245781 DOI: 10.1111/bph.13530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2016] [Revised: 05/16/2016] [Accepted: 05/19/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Relaxin-3 (RLN3) is a neuropeptide that is strongly expressed in the pontine nucleus incertus (NI) and binds with high affinity to its cognate receptor RXFP3. Central administration of RLN3 in rats increases food intake and adiposity. In humans, RLN3 polymorphism has been associated with obesity and hypercholesterolaemia. Emerging evidence suggests that the effects of RLN3 may have sex-specific aspects. Thus, the RLN3 knockout female but not male mice are hypoactive. RLN3 produced stronger orexigenic and obesogenic effects in female rats compared with male rats. In addition, female rats demonstrated higher sensitivity to lower doses of RLN3. Repeated cycles of food restriction and stress were accompanied by an increase in RLN3 expression and hyperphagia in female but not in male rats. Furthermore, stress-induced binge eating in female rats was blocked by an RXFP3 receptor antagonist. RLN3 increased the expression of corticotropin releasing factor in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus in male but not in female rats. Conversely, in female rats, RLN3 increased the expression of orexin in the lateral hypothalamus. There is evidence that orexin directly activates the RLN3 neurons in the NI. The positive reinforcement of the RLN3 effects by orexin may intensify behavioural activation and feeding in females. Sex-specific effects of RLN3 may also depend on differential expression of RXFP3 receptors in the brain. Given the higher sensitivity of females to the orexigenic effects of RLN3 and the stress-induced activation of RLN3, the overall data suggest a possible role for RLN3 in eating disorders that show a higher propensity in women. LINKED ARTICLES This article is part of a themed section on Recent Progress in the Understanding of Relaxin Family Peptides and their Receptors. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.10/issuetoc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliane Calvez
- Faculté de Médecine, Département de Psychiatrie et de Neurosciences, Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Camila de Ávila
- Faculté de Médecine, Département de Psychiatrie et de Neurosciences, Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Elena Timofeeva
- Faculté de Médecine, Département de Psychiatrie et de Neurosciences, Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
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Bischoff SJ, Schmidt M, Lehmann T, Irintchev A, Schubert H, Jung C, Schwab M, Huber O, Matziolis G, Schiffner R. Increase of cortical cerebral blood flow and further cerebral microcirculatory effects of Serelaxin in a sheep model. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2016; 311:H613-20. [PMID: 27402664 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00118.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2016] [Accepted: 07/02/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Serelaxin, recombinant human relaxin-2, modulates endothelial vasodilatory functionality and is under evaluation for treatment of acute heart failure. Little is known about acute effects on cerebral perfusion. We tested the hypothesis that Serelaxin might also have effects on the cerebral microcirculation in a sheep model, which resembles human brain structure quite well. We used laser Doppler flowmetry and sidestream dark-field (SDF) imaging techniques, which are reliable tools to continuously assess dynamic changes in cerebral perfusion. Laser Doppler flowmetry shows that bolus injection of 30 μg Serelaxin/kg body wt induces an increase (P = 0.006) to roughly 150% of cortical cerebral blood flow (CBF), whereas subcortical CBF remains unchanged (P = 0.688). The effects on area-dependent CBF were significantly different after the bolus injection (P = 0.042). Effects on cortical CBF were further confirmed by SDF imaging. The bolus injection of Serelaxin increased total vessel density to 127% (P = 0.00046), perfused vessel density to 145% (P = 0.024), and perfused capillary density to 153% (P = 0.024). Western blotting confirmed the expression of relaxin receptors RXFP1 and truncated RXFP2-variants in the respective brain regions, suggesting a possible contribution of RXFP1 on the effects of Serelaxin. In conclusion, the injection of a high dose of Serelaxin exerts quick effects on the cerebral microcirculation. Therefore, Serelaxin might be suitable to improve cortical microcirculation and exert neuroprotective effects in clinically relevant scenarios that involve cortical hypoperfusion. These findings need to be confirmed in relevant experimental settings involving cerebral cortical hypoperfusion and can possibly be translated into clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine J Bischoff
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Welfare, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Martin Schmidt
- Institute for Biochemistry II, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Thomas Lehmann
- Institute of Medical Statistics, Computer Sciences and Documentation Science, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Andrey Irintchev
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Harald Schubert
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Welfare, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Christian Jung
- Division of Cardiology, Pulmonology and Vascular Medicine, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Matthias Schwab
- Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany; and
| | - Otmar Huber
- Institute for Biochemistry II, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - Georg Matziolis
- Orthopaedic Department, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
| | - René Schiffner
- Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany; and Orthopaedic Department, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
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Frati A, Ricci B, Pierucci F, Nistri S, Bani D, Meacci E. Role of sphingosine kinase/S1P axis in ECM remodeling of cardiac cells elicited by relaxin. Mol Endocrinol 2016; 29:53-67. [PMID: 25415609 DOI: 10.1210/me.2014-1201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The initiation and progression of heart failure is linked to adverse cardiac remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) during disease mainly through the deregulation of myocardial metalloproteinases (MMPs). Relaxin (RLX), a peptide hormone acting as a physiological cardiac effector, is a key regulator of ECM remodeling in reproductive and nonreproductive tissues. Studying primary cultures of mouse cardiac muscle cells and rat H9c2 cardiomyoblasts, we have obtained evidence for a new signaling pathway activated by RLX to induce ECM remodeling that involves the bioactive sphingolipids sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and ceramide. In both cell populations, recombinant human RLX increased sphingosine kinase activity and S1P formation, whereas sphingomyelin and ceramide content were decreased in [(3)H]serine-labeled cells. According to the literature, RLX promoted MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression/release. Pharmacological inhibition of sphingolipid metabolism and silencing of sphingosine kinase 1, the enzyme responsible for S1P formation, were able to prevent MMP expression/release elicited by the hormone and induce the expression of tissue inhibitor of MMPs. In addition, we found that sphingolipid signaling is required for the regulation of connective tissue growth factor, a member of the CCN 1-3 family of genes that are involved in cell proliferation and differentiation. Finally, the induction of cardiomyoblast maturation induced by RLX was also found to be counteracted by inhibition of S1P formation. In conclusion, these findings provide a novel mechanism by which RLX acts on cardiac ECM remodeling and cardiac cell differentiation and offer interesting therapeutic options to prevent heart fibrosis and to favor myocardial regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Frati
- Department of Biomedical, Experimental, and Clinical Sciences (A.F., B.R., F.P., E.M.), Research Unit of Biochemistry, and Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine (S.N., D.B.), Research Unit of Histology and Embryology, University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy
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