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A Setmelanotide-like Effect at MC4R Is Achieved by MC4R Dimer Separation.

ABSTRACT: Melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) is part of the leptin-melanocortin pathway and plays an essential role in mediating energy homeostasis. Mutations in the MC4R are the most frequent monogenic cause for obesity. Due to increasing numbers of people with excess body weight, the MC4R has become a target of interest in the search of treatment options. We have previously reported that the MC4R forms homodimers, affecting receptor G_s signaling properties. Recent studies introducing setmelanotide, a novel synthetic MC4R agonist, suggest a predominant role of the G_q/11 pathway regarding weight regulation. In this study, we analyzed effects of inhibiting homodimerization on G_q/11 signaling using previously reported MC4R/CB1R chimeras. NanoBRET^TM studies to determine protein-protein interaction were conducted, confirming decreased homodimerization capacities of chimeric receptors in HEK293 cells. G_q/11 signaling of chimeric receptors was analyzed using luciferase-based reporter gene (NFAT) assays. Results demonstrate an improvement of alpha-MSH-induced NFAT signaling of chimeras, reaching the level of setmelanotide signaling at wild-type MC4R (MC4R-WT). In summary, our study shows that inhibiting homodimerization has a setmelanotide-like effect on G_q/11 signaling, with chimeric receptors presenting increased potency compared to MC4R-WT. These findings indicate the potential of inhibiting MC4R homodimerization as a therapeutic target to treat obesity.

SUBMITTER: Reininghaus N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9405727 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A Setmelanotide-like Effect at MC4R Is Achieved by MC4R Dimer Separation.

Reininghaus Nanina N Paisdzior Sarah S Höpfner Friederike F Jyrch Sabine S Cetindag Cigdem C Scheerer Patrick P Kühnen Peter P Biebermann Heike H

Biomolecules 20220815 8

Melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) is part of the leptin-melanocortin pathway and plays an essential role in mediating energy homeostasis. Mutations in the <i>MC4R</i> are the most frequent monogenic cause for obesity. Due to increasing numbers of people with excess body weight, the MC4R has become a target of interest in the search of treatment options. We have previously reported that the MC4R forms homodimers, affecting receptor G<sub>s</sub> signaling properties. Recent studies introducing setme ...[more]

PMID: 36009013

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Project description:Depression is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by a wide range of symptoms, including but not restricted to increased anxiety-like behavior, altered stress responsivity, increased depressive like behavior, decreased pleasure seeking, and altered susceptibility to drugs of abuse. Adding another level of complexity to the disease is the fact that individuals differ in their susceptibility to depression. Research done over the past decade has highlighted the contribution of early life adverse experience to this individual differences in vulnerability to depression. Such studies have been done at the clinical as well as the preclinical level, where rodent and primate models of adverse postnatal environment such as Maternal Separation (MS) are used. MS involves separation of the pup from the dam for 3h every day for the first two weeks of postnatal life. The MS model has been characterized to produce long lasting anxiety-like behavior, depressive behavior and altered stress responsivity in adulthood. While several molecular mechanisms have been hypothesized to mediate the long lasting effects of MS, the serotonin 2a receptor is an attractive candidate, given its role in regulating anxiety-like behavior. So we set out to ask if Maternal Separation alters the 5HT2a responses. In order to assay if MS alters the transcriptional targets of the 5Ht2a receptor, we use a drug that stimulates the 5Ht2a receptor, DOI. The experiment involves injecting both control and MS animals with DOI and looking at the transcriptome induced by DOI under control and MS conditions. This would help understand how the adverse early life experience MS, alters the transcriptional response of an adult rat to stimulation at the 5HT2a receptor, which is physiologically seen in conditions of stress. Maternal Separation (MS) was carried out according to standard protocol. Briefly, upon birth the litters were assigned to either the control or the maternal separation group. Pups from the maternal separation litters were separated from their mother every day for a period of 3 hours from postnatal day 2 (p2) to postnatal day 14 (p14) while the control litters were left undisturbed. After p14, the maternally separated pups were left undisturbed and all litters were weaned at postnatal day 30. Experiments on adult control and MS rats were performed at postnatal day 60. We wanted to ask if a history of adverse experience in early life like MS would alter the transcriptional response of the adult rat to the 5Ht2a agonist DOI. In order to measure the transcriptional changes induced by DOI in control and maternally separated animals, 15 rats (7 - Control and 8 - Maternally Separated) were injected i.p. with either saline or 8 mg/kg DOI. The groups included Control (Control rats injected with saline; n=3), DOI (control rats injected with 8 mg/kg DOI; n=4), MS (MS rats injected with saline, n=4) and MS+ DOI (MS rats injected with 8 mg/kg DOI, n=4). Rats were sacrificed 2 hours after the injection by decapitation. The prefrontal cortex was quickly dissected out and stored at -70 till further use. Total RNA from each rat was extracted, labeled with Cy3 and hybridized onto Agilent Custom Rat Array 8X15K (AMADID: G2509F_16352). Each biological replicate was hybridized onto one array making the total number of arrays 15.

Dataset Information

A Setmelanotide-like Effect at MC4R Is Achieved by MC4R Dimer Separation.

Publications

A Setmelanotide-like Effect at MC4R Is Achieved by MC4R Dimer Separation.

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