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Van Remoortel S, Lambeets L, Timmermans JP. Neuro-immune interactions and the role of Mas-related G protein-coupled receptors in the gastrointestinal tract. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2022; 306:1131-1139. [PMID: 35694864 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25008] [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: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Over the past decade, the research field dealing with the role of a new family of Rhodopsin A-like G protein-coupled receptors, that is, the family of Mas-related G protein-coupled receptors (Mrgprs) has expanded enormously. A plethora of recent studies have provided evidence that Mrgprs are key players in itch and pain, as well as in the initiation and modulation of inflammatory/allergic responses in the skin. Over the years, it has become clear that this role is not limited to the skin, but extends to other mucosal surfaces such as the respiratory tract and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In the GI tract, Mrgprs have emerged as novel interoceptive sensory pathways linked to health and disease, and are in close functional association with the gut's immune system. This review aims to provide an update of our current knowledge on the expression, distribution and function of members of this Mrgpr family in intrinsic and extrinsic neuro-immune pathways related to the GI system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Van Remoortel
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Laboratory of Cell Biology and Histology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Lana Lambeets
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Laboratory of Cell Biology and Histology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Jean-Pierre Timmermans
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Laboratory of Cell Biology and Histology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
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Mas-Related G Protein-Coupled Receptors (Mrgprs) as Mediators of Gut Neuro-Immune Signaling. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2022; 1383:259-269. [PMID: 36587165 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-05843-1_25] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Over the past 15 years, the research field on Mas-related G protein-coupled receptors (Mrgprs), a relatively new family of rhodopsin A-like G protein-coupled receptors, has expanded enormously, and a plethora of recent studies have provided evidence that several of these Mrgpr family members play an important role in the underlying mechanisms of itch and pain, as well as in the initiation and modulation of inflammatory/allergic responses. Initial studies mainly focused on the skin, but more recently also visceral organs such as the respiratory and gastrointestinal (GI) tracts emerged as sites for Mrgpr involvement. It has become clear that the gastrointestinal tract and its innervation in close association with the immune system represent a novel expression site for Mrgprs where they contribute to the interoceptive mechanisms maintaining homeostasis and might constitute promising targets in chronic abdominal pain disorders. In this short review, we provide an update of our current knowledge on the expression, distribution, and function of members of this Mrgpr family in intrinsic and extrinsic neuro-immune pathways related to the gastrointestinal tract, their mediatory role(s) in gut neuro-immune signaling, and their involvement in visceral afferent (nociceptive) pathways.
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Thompson GL, Canals M, Poole DP. Biological redundancy of endogenous GPCR ligands in the gut and the potential for endogenous functional selectivity. Front Pharmacol 2014; 5:262. [PMID: 25506328 PMCID: PMC4246669 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2014.00262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2014] [Accepted: 11/12/2014] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
This review focuses on the existence and function of multiple endogenous agonists of the somatostatin and opioid receptors with an emphasis on their expression in the gastrointestinal tract. These agonists generally arise from the proteolytic cleavage of prepropeptides during peptide maturation or from degradation of peptides by extracellular or intracellular endopeptidases. In other examples, endogenous peptide agonists for the same G protein-coupled receptors can be products of distinct genes but contain high sequence homology. This apparent biological redundancy has recently been challenged by the realization that different ligands may engender distinct receptor conformations linked to different intracellular signaling profiles and, as such the existence of distinct ligands may underlie mechanisms to finely tune physiological responses. We propose that further characterization of signaling pathways activated by these endogenous ligands will provide invaluable insight into the mechanisms governing biased agonism. Moreover, these ligands may prove useful in the design of novel therapeutic tools to target distinct signaling pathways, thereby favoring desirable effects and limiting detrimental on-target effects. Finally we will discuss the limitations of this area of research and we will highlight the difficulties that need to be addressed when examining endogenous bias in tissues and in animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgina L Thompson
- Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Meritxell Canals
- Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Daniel P Poole
- Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Parkville, VIC, Australia ; Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne Parkville, VIC, Australia
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Sikand P, Dong X, LaMotte RH. BAM8-22 peptide produces itch and nociceptive sensations in humans independent of histamine release. J Neurosci 2011; 31:7563-7. [PMID: 21593341 PMCID: PMC3111068 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1192-11.2011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 127] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2011] [Revised: 04/04/2011] [Accepted: 04/11/2011] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic itch accompanying many dermatological, neurological, and systemic diseases is unresponsive to antihistamines. Our knowledge of endogenous chemicals that evoke histamine-independent itch and their molecular targets is very limited. Recently it was demonstrated in behavioral and cellular experiments that bovine adrenal medulla 8-22 peptide (BAM8-22), a proteolytically cleaved product of proenkephalin A, is a potent activator of Mas-related G-protein-coupled receptors (Mrgprs), MrgprC11 and hMrgprX1, and induces scratching in mice in an Mrgpr-dependent manner. To study the sensory qualities that BAM8-22 evokes in humans, we tested the volar forearm of 15 healthy volunteers with heat-inactivated cowhage spicules previously soaked in the peptide. BAM8-22 produced itch in each subject, usually accompanied by sensations of pricking/stinging and burning. The sensations were occasionally accompanied by one or more mechanically evoked dysesthesias, namely alloknesis, hyperknesis, and/or hyperalgesia, but no wheal or neurogenic flare in the skin surrounding the application site. The inactive truncated peptide BAM8-18 produced weak or no sensations. Pretreatment of the tested skin with an antihistamine cream (doxepin) inhibited histamine-induced sensations, dysesthesias, and skin reactions but not the sensations and dysesthesias evoked by BAM8-22. We show that BAM8-22 produces itch and nociceptive sensations in humans in a histamine-independent manner. Thus, BAM8-22 may be an endogenous itch mediator that activates, in humans, MrgprX1, a novel target for potential anti-itch treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parul Sikand
- Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, and
| | - Xinzhong Dong
- The Solomon S. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Center for Sensory Biology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
| | - Robert H. LaMotte
- Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, and
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Monstein HJ, Grahn N, Ohlsson B. Proenkephalin-A mRNA Is Widely Expressed in Tissues of the Human Gastrointestinal Tract. Eur Surg Res 2006; 38:464-8. [PMID: 16940731 DOI: 10.1159/000095414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2006] [Accepted: 07/07/2006] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND It has been shown that the non-opioid effects of Met-enkephalin, which is derived from proenkephalin-A, are mediated through a specific opioid growth factor (OGF) receptor which is assumed to be involved in the control of cell growth. The expression and tissue location of proenkephalin-A mRNA in the gastrointestinal tract remains largely unknown. METHODS In this study we have analyzed the expression of proenkephalin-A mRNA in the human esophagus, gastrointestinal tract and surrounding organs by means of reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). RESULTS The present study demonstrates proenkephalin-A mRNA expression in the human esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, and gallbladder. CONCLUSION The present study demonstrates proenkephalin-A mRNA expression in regions of the human esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, and gallbladder tissues which provides information for the future mapping of proenkephalin-A mRNA and protein expression/co-expression at the cellular level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans-Jürg Monstein
- Clinical Microbiology, Molecular Biology Laboratory, University Hospital Linköping, Linköping, Sweden.
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Abstract
The classic concept of gastrointestinal endocrinology is that of a few peptides released to the circulation from endocrine cells, which are interspersed among other mucosal cells in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Today more than 30 peptide hormone genes are known to be expressed throughout the digestive tract, which makes the gut the largest endocrine organ in the body. Moreover, development in cell and molecular biology now makes it feasible to describe a new biology for gastrointestinal hormones based on five characteristics. 1) The structural homology groups the hormones into families, each of which is assumed to originate from a common ancestral gene. 2) The individual hormone gene is often expressed in multiple bioactive peptides due to tandem genes encoding different hormonal peptides, alternative splicing of the primary transcript, or differentiated processing of the primary translation product. By these mechanisms, more than 100 different hormonally active peptides are produced in the gastrointestinal tract. 3) In addition, gut hormone genes are widely expressed, also outside the gut. Some are expressed only in neuroendocrine cells, whereas others are expressed in a multitude of different cells, including cancer cells. 4) The different cell types often express different products of the same gene, "cell-specific expression." 5) Finally, gastrointestinal hormone-producing cells release the peptides in different ways, so the same peptide may act as an acute blood-borne hormone, as a local growth factor, as a neurotransmitter, and as a fertility factor. The new biology suggests that gastrointestinal hormones should be conceived as intercellular messengers of general physiological impact rather than as local regulators of the upper digestive tract.
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Affiliation(s)
- J F Rehfeld
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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Bagnol D, Henry M, Cupo A, Julé Y. Distribution of enkephalin-like immunoreactivity in the cat digestive tract. JOURNAL OF THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM 1997; 64:1-11. [PMID: 9188079 DOI: 10.1016/s0165-1838(97)00008-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Immunohistochemical investigations were carried out to determine the pattern of distribution of methionine- and leucine-enkephalin-like materials in the cat pylorus, duodenum, ileum and proximal and distal colon. The present results indicate that leucine-enkephalin-like materials are less densely distributed than methionine-enkephalin-like materials, but that the two patterns of distribution show some similarities. Considerable regional differences exist however in the distribution of these enkephalin-like materials in the muscular layers. In the duodenum, ileum and proximal colon, the immunoreactivity was mainly confined to the myenteric plexus and the circular muscle layer, where it was present in nerve cell bodies and in numerous fibres. In the longitudinal muscle and submucous layers, a few immunoreactive fibres were observed which sometimes surrounded blood vessels. In the pylorus and the distal colon, however, numerous immunoreactive fibres were observed in the longitudinal and circular muscle layers; the immunoreactivity was detected in the cell bodies of numerous myenteric plexus neurons but those of only a few submucous plexus neurons. In addition, the pylorus tissues contained immunoreactive plexi which were localized either within the longitudinal muscle or between the serosa and the longitudinal muscle layer. These plexi were connected to the myenteric plexus by immunoreactive nerve strands. In all the small intestinal segments studied, numerous immunoreactive varicosities were present in the deep muscular plexus, in the inner part of the circular muscle layer. Our results suggest that in cats, the nervous control of external muscular layers mediated by enkephalins shows regional differences. In the pylorus and the distal colon, it involves both the longitudinal and circular muscle layers, whereas in other intestinal segments, only the circular muscle layer is involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Bagnol
- Université d'Aix-Marseille III, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de Saint Jérôme, France.
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Herbrecht F, Bagnol D, Cucumel K, Jule Y, Cupo A. Distribution of enkephalin immunoreactivity in sympathetic prevertebral ganglia and digestive tract of guinea-pigs and rats. REGULATORY PEPTIDES 1995; 57:85-95. [PMID: 7644705 DOI: 10.1016/0167-0115(95)00022-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to determine the distribution of methionine-enkephalin (ME) and leucine-enkephalin (LE) immunoreactivity in the sympathetic prevertebral ganglia (coeliac plexus and inferior mesenteric ganglion) and in the myenteric plexus-muscular layer complex of the digestive tract in guinea-pigs and rats. This study was performed using the same immunological approaches including radioimmunoassays and HPLC characterization as those used previously on cats in order to be able to make inter-region and inter-species comparisons. In rat and guinea-pig prevertebral ganglia, the distributions of the enkephalin immunoreactivities were comparable and were characterized by a low ME/LE concentration ratio, of less than 1. In the digestive tract of rats, the enkephalin immunoreactivities were homogeneously distributed, whereas in guinea-pigs, they were found to be very low in the lower oesophageal sphincter and high in the duodenum. In both species, the ME/LE concentration ratio was around 2. The ME/LE concentration ratio determined in the present study in peripheral nervous structures was much lower than that determined previously in the rat brain. Radioimmunoassay and biochemical data might indicate that different mechanisms are responsible for the processing and/or degradation of enkephalins in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The present study provides further evidences that there are tissue- and species-dependent differences in the distribution of enkephalin immunoreactivities. These differences should be taken into consideration when dealing with the effects and the role of enkephalins in the nervous control of intestinal motility in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Herbrecht
- Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS UPR 411, Valbonne, France
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McIntosh CH, Law S, Bakich V. Chronic naltrexone treatment of rats: effects on gastrointestinal opioid peptide content. Eur J Pharmacol 1992; 223:117-22. [PMID: 1478264 DOI: 10.1016/0014-2999(92)94829-k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The gastrointestinal tract contains immunoreactive enkephalins and beta-endorphin. The objective of the current study was to determine whether chronic treatment of rats with naltrexone altered the gastrointestinal tissue content of these opioid peptides. Opioid activity measured by radioreceptor assay was detectable throughout the gastrointestinal tract. There were regional differences in the [Met5]enkephalin: [Leu5]enkephalin-immunoreactivity (IR) ratios, possibly due to cell specific differential processing of precursor molecules or degradation of the peptides. Chronic naltrexone treatment increased opioid activity in the duodenum and jejunum, decreased [Met5]enkephalin-IR in the duodenum and [Leu5]enkephalin-IR in the gastric corpus, and increased beta-endorphin-IR in the duodenum. However, the changes were small, and it is unlikely that any functional changes resulting from naltrexone treatment can be reliably ascribed to such changes in tissue content.
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Affiliation(s)
- C H McIntosh
- Department of Physiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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