Anti-GPR50 monoclonal antibody Made to order

The long-anticipated high-resolution structures of the human melatonin G protein-coupled receptors MT1 and MT2, involved in establishing and maintaining circadian rhythm, were obtained in complex with two melatonin analogs and two approved anti-insomnia and antidepression drugs using X-ray free-electron laser serial femtosecond crystallography. The structures shed light on the overall conformation and unusual structural features of melatonin receptors, as well as their ligand binding sites and the melatonergic pharmacophore, thereby providing insights into receptor subtype selectivity. The structures revealed an occluded orthosteric ligand binding site with a membrane-buried channel for ligand entry in both receptors, and an additional putative ligand entry path in MT2 from the extracellular side. This unexpected ligand entry mode contributes to facilitating the high specificity with which melatonin receptors bind their cognate ligand and exclude structurally similar molecules such as serotonin, the biosynthetic precursor of melatonin. Finally, the MT2 structure allowed accurate mapping of type 2 diabetes-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms, where a clustering of residues in helices I and II on the protein-membrane interface was observed which could potentially influence receptor oligomerization. The role of receptor oligomerization is further discussed in light of the differential interaction of MT1 and MT2 with GPR50, a regulatory melatonin coreceptor. The melatonin receptor structures will facilitate design of selective tool compounds to further dissect the specific physiological function of each receptor subtype as well as provide a structural basis for next-generation sleeping aids and other drugs targeting these receptors with higher specificity and fewer side effects.

Djungarian hamsters are able to reduce their body weight by more than 30% in anticipation of the winter season. This particular adaptation to extreme environmental conditions is primarily driven by a natural reduction in day length and conserved under laboratory conditions. We used this animal model to investigate hypothalamic gene expression linked to body weight regulation behind this physiological phenomenon. After an initial collective short photoperiod (SP) adaptation for 14 weeks from a preceding long photoperiod (LP), hamsters were re-exposed to LP for either 6 or 14 weeks, followed by a second re-exposure to SP for 8 weeks. Our data showed that re-exposure to LP led to an increase in body weight. In the hypothalamus Dio2, Vimentin, Crbp1 and Grp50 expression increased, whereas expression of Dio3, Mct8 and Srif decreased. The changes in body weight and gene expression were reversible in most hamsters after a further re-exposure to SP following 6 or 14 weeks in LP. Interestingly, after 14 weeks in LP, body weight loss was pronounced in six hamsters re-exposed to SP, but five hamsters did not respond. In nonresponding hamsters, a different gene expression pattern was manifested, with the exception of Dio2, which was reduced not only in SP re-exposed hamsters, but also in hamsters maintained in LP. Taken together, these data suggest that body weight regulation appears to be tightly linked to a co-ordinated regulation of several genes in the hypothalamus, including those involved in thyroid hormone metabolism.