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Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology
Identifying A Glucocorticoid-Activated Gpcr That Rapidly And Non-Genomically Increases Camp Levels In Mammalian Cells, Francisco Nunez
Identifying A Glucocorticoid-Activated Gpcr That Rapidly And Non-Genomically Increases Camp Levels In Mammalian Cells, Francisco Nunez
Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) Dissertations
Glucocorticoids (GCs) are steroid hormones that regulate diverse physiological processes. Synthetic versions of GCs are commonly used to treat inflammatory diseases such as asthma by modulating gene expression to suppressing several inflammatory activities. However, it is estimated that 5-10% of asthmatics are unresponsive to GCs, which may be explained by receptor desensitization and/or the presence of a neutrophilic endotype. One understudied phenomenon of GCs is their ability to induce rapid, non-genomic actions. For example, GCs can acutely modulate calcium concentrations levels, induce smooth muscle relaxation and modulate nitric oxide synthase activity, within minutes and sometimes seconds, which is too rapid …
Decoding The Signaling Of The D2r-2ar Heteromer: Relevance To Schizophrenia, Miao Huang
Decoding The Signaling Of The D2r-2ar Heteromer: Relevance To Schizophrenia, Miao Huang
Theses and Dissertations
Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder affecting ~1% of world population. Two G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs): Gi-coupled dopamine D2 receptor (D2R), and Gq-coupled serotonin 2A receptor (2AR), are targeted by the typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia. These two receptors have been shown to co-localize in brain regions relevant to schizophrenia, including the ventral tegmental area (VTA), striatum, and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Studies in our lab characterized the integrated signaling of the D2R-2AR heteromer and found that both the Gi activity of D2R and the Gq activity of 2AR were potentiated …