Obesity features increased accumulation of fat in the body and results in adverse health consequences, including type II diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. The global epidemic of obesity and lack of effective treatments call for the search of new anti-obesity medication. Activation of prostaglandin receptor subtype 4 (EP4) had been shown to produce potent anti-inflammatory effect and possibly induce brite adipocytes to increase energy expenditure, both of which can potentially ameliorate obesity. The purpose of this dissertation is to characterize the metabolic phenotypes of EP4 receptor in mice and to elucidate whether administration of CAY10580, a selective EP4 agonist, could protect against obesity and its related complications. The experiments were carried out on diet-induced obese mice and EP4 knockout mice. Anthropometric measurement, glucose and insulin tolerance test, indirect calorimetry, quantitative real-time PCR, plasma analytes measurement and histological studies were performed. The findings revealed that EP4 activation by CAY10580 prevented high-fat diet fed mice from becoming obese, but it did not exhibit a curative effect in reversing obesity in mice. Activation of EP4 by CAY10580 suppressed body weight gain and adiposity in high-fat diet fed mice by reducing the weight of epididymal, subcutaneous and peri-renal white adipose tissues, inter-scapular brown adipose tissue and liver. The lower adiposity resulted in improved glucose and insulin sensitivity and lower plasma leptin level. The cause of reduced adiposity by EP4 activation is not due to changes in energy intake, obligatory energy expenditure, locomotor activities, adaptive thermogenesis and lipolysis. EP4- mediated reduction in adiposity was characterized by smaller adipocyte size and greater proportion of small adipocytes in subcutaneous white adipose tissue. Furthermore, mice deficient in EP4 also showed reduced adiposity at epididymal, subcutaneous and peri-renal white adipose tissues, and inter-scapular brown adipose tissue. The reduced adiposity in EP4 deficient mice was associated with impaired cold intolerance. Taken together, EP4 activation is effective in preventing obesity and relieving obesity-associated glucose and insulin tolerance, and EP4 might play an essential role in adiposity maintenance through the modulation on adipocyte development. / published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Glutamate is the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian nervous system. Ionotropic glutamate receptors used to be the only type of glutamate receptors, bringing about essential functions including synaptic transmissions. Since 1991, eight metabotropic glutamate receptors have been discovered. Belonging to the subfamily C of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, these receptors have unique structural features. They couple to their own specific G proteins and transduce signals via pathways not recognized in other subfamilies. To date, little information on these receptors have been revealed in mammals, and even less is known about them in non-mammalian species including chicken. In the present study, various cDNAs of the chicken glutamate receptor, metabotropic 1 (GRM1) as well as its splice variants were cloned from adult brain tissue. At least 11 exons were identified in the chicken (c-) GRM1 gene, in which the alternative usage of exons and splice acceptor sites results in at least three variants, namely cGRM1a, cGRM1b and cGRM1f. The predicted coding regions of cGRM1a, cGRM1b and cGRM1f are 3459 base pairs (bp), 2736 bp and 2697 bp in length, which were deduced to encode receptor peptides of 1152 amino acids (aa), 911 aa and 898 aa, respectively. The predicted cGRM1a peptide shows high amino acid sequence identities (87.5% to 88%) to its counterparts in humans, rats, mice, chimpanzees and cattle. cGRM1b transcript differs from cGRM1a transcript by inclusion of two additional exons (7b and 7c), which contains a premature stop codon and results in its shorter C-terminal tail. cGRM1f is a novel splice variant that lacks exon 7b and is 13 aa shorter than cGRM1b. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays showed that the transcripts of cGRM1a, cGRM1b and cGRM1f were preferentially expressed in adult chicken brains, in which cGRM1f mRNA was additionally identified in pituitary, lungs and gonads. Functional assay demonstrated that cGRM1a and cGRM1b receptors, expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells, were induced by glutamate in dose-dependent manners via the Fura-2 dye calcium assays. In addition, dual luciferase reporter assays suggested that cGRM1a and cGRM1b receptors have no significant effects on the activation of cAMP/PKA and MAPK/ERK signaling pathways upon glutamate treatment. Taken together, the present study has provided the first step in understanding the possible roles of GRM1 in chickens. / published_or_final_version / Biological Sciences / Master / Master of Philosophy

Obesity is a rising global health burden. The accumulation of fat in the body is associated with metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and cancer. Currently available anti-obesity medications are not effective and safe to meet the medical need for obesity management. Prostaglandin E receptor subtype 4 (EP4) is involved in the development of adipocytes, but the signaling in adipogenesis and the effect on the regulation of energy homeostasis is not clear to understand. Thus, EP4 receptor and its signaling pathway are interest for research. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the morphology and metabolic alteration in mice and to elucidate whether the lack of EP4 by administration of L-161,982, a selective EP4 antagonist, could influence lipid metabolism of the adipocytes in subcutaneous white adipose tissue. Our findings revealed that whether the mice were fed with normal or high-fat diet, EP4 has no significant influence on the adipocyte size in subcutaneous white adipose tissues. The lack of EP4 also showed no significant effect on the basal or stimulated lipolysis of subcutaneous white adipose tissue. However, EP4 deficiency reverses hepatic lipid storage in high-fat fed mice compared to those fed with normal diet. In conclusion, EP4 might be altered lipid metabolism in the liver, which is crucial in the management of obesity. Prospective studies are essential to investigate the effect of EP4 and its signaling pathway on adiposity and lipid metabolism in the liver. / published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Class B GPCRs are emerging target in drug research. Currently these receptors serve as drug targets for several drug discovery companies and more than 50 percent of the drugs in the market targets GPCRs. Secretin receptor is found to be expressed in various tissues. Secretin regulates many bodily functions from energy to water homeostasis through both central and peripheral system. Though it holds a history of 100 years, the major drawback is its structural insights. In evidence of its integrated role in physiology as a potential target, the lookout for a novel agonist and / or antagonist for secretin receptor is initiated. As this target is in the primary state of drug research, it is also necessary to develop the appropriate screening platforms. Due to the lack of experimental structure of secretin receptor-ligand, a 3D virtual homology model is developed using multiple template approach. Besides virtual docking, a non-radioactive FRET competitive binding assay is also developed and substantiated to enable the receptor-ligand interaction studies. Both peptide and non-peptide analogs were screened for virtual docking, in vitro binding and functional response. For the peptide analogs, the modifications were made either in the N or C terminal portion of the peptide based on the previous findings that C-terminal portion is involved in receptor binding followed by allosteric modifications and N-terminal portion is involved in activation. These peptide analogs exhibited binding affinity in the virtual model. Paradoxically it did not exhibit in vitro binding as predicted. Along with this, the agonistic and antagonistic functional responses of these peptide analogs were also found to be negative. SPECS natural product library of 500 non-peptide analogs were screened virtually against secretin receptor and 32 hits were identified. Of these hits glycyrrhizin’s functions were comparable to secretin was screened for receptor binding and functional response. These in vitro assays did not exert anything positive; however an IP-GTT on WT, 〖SCT〗^(-/- )and 〖SCTR〗^(-/-) mice with acute treatment of glycyrrhizin at 10 mg/kg and chronic treatment of 5 mg/kg exhibited an interesting profile with negligible effect on 〖SCT〗^(-/- )mice whereas in WT and 〖SCTR〗^(-/-) mice it displayed a better profile with improved glucose tolerance. The chronic study serum analysis on day 28 exhibited substantial reduction in blood glucose while significant increase in serum secretin and insulin levels. As glycyrrhizin promotes secretin secretion, its acute effect on blood pressure in WT mice was also analyzed at 10 mg/kg; remarkably exhibited a significant drop in blood pressure. In summary modifications in the peptide analogs lead to instability in the receptor-ligand binding complex in the in vitro system leading to loss of binding efficiency. In case of non-peptides, though glycyrrhizin could not exhibit in vitro response, its supplementary mechanism through secretin pathway of increased secretin release is confirmed using the WT, 〖SCT〗^(-/- )and 〖SCTR〗^(-/-) mice. The hypotensive effect with an acute treatment in WT is also revealed. Discovery of this new mechanism of an old drug could broaden the research for a new class of drug, “secretin sensitizers / promoters”. / published_or_final_version / Biological Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Intracellular transportation is an essential cellular event controlling neuronal development, morphology, function and survival. Kinesin-1 is the molecular motor conveying cargo along microtubule by utilizing the chemical energy from ATP hydrolysis. This motor consists of two heavy chains and two light chains. Both heavy and light chains are responsible for cargo bindings. There are three kinesin-1 heavy chains in eukaryotic cells. Kif5a and Kif5c are neuronal specific, while Kif5b is ubiquitously expressed. Kif5b carries various cargos essential for neuronal functions, and the early embryonic death of Kif5b null mice suggests the importance of Kif5b in vivo. N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are glutamate elicited channel, which is permeable to calcium and crucial for synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system. NMDARs are heteromeric assemblies consisting of NR1, NR2 and NR3 subunits. These transmembrane subunits contain three parts. Other than the transmembrane domain, the extracellular domain serves as the ligand binding site while the intracellular domain interacts with various partners regulating downstream signaling and receptor trafficking. Synaptic NMDAR activation regulates synaptic plasticity, while extrasynaptic NMDAR activation leads to excitotoxicity. In this project, I find that kinesin-1 directly interacts with NMDAR subunit, NR1, NR2A and NR2B in vivo. NMDAR colocalizes with kinesin-1 in the cell body and neurites. By GST-pull-down assays with different Kif5b fragments, the cytoplasmic domains of NR1, NR2A and NR2B are found to directly bind with Kif5b via a Kif5b C-terminal region independent of kinesin light chains. To examine the role of Kif5b in NMDAR trafficking, dominant negative Kif5b fragments are expressed in cell lines together with NR1-1a and GFP-NR2B. Overexpression of dominant negative Kif5b significantly disrupts GFP-NR2B forward trafficking and prevents it from entering into Golgi apparatus. Furthermore, the surface NR1 and NR2B levels are significantly reduced whilst the NR2A levels are not affected in Kif5b+/- mice in which the Kif5b protein level is reduced by 50% compared with the wild-type littermates. Consistent with this observation, the NR1 and NR2B levels are decreased in fractions containing synaptosomal membrane but not the one containing only postsynaptic densities, suggesting that the extrasynaptic NMDAR levels are affected in Kif5b+/- mice. NMDARs are highly permeable to calcium while activated, thereby activating neuronal nitric oxide synthases (nNOS) to produce nitric oxide (NO). It is found that NMDA triggered calcium influx is perturbed in Kif5b+/- neurons, while the synaptic NMDA receptor mediated calcium influx is normal. In Kif5b+/- slices, the production of NO reduces significantly. Calcium ionophore, A23187, rescue this NO defect, indicating insufficient supply of calcium as the main contribution to this defect. Therefore, Kif5b-dependent extrasynaptic localization of NMDA receptors mediates calcium influx upon NMDA stimulation and controls NO production. In the summary, above results suggest kinesin-1 as a novel motor involving in NMDA receptor trafficking. This interaction may contribute to the extrasynaptic distribution of NMDARs. By regulating NO production through interaction with NMDARs, Kif5b may mediate neuronal survival in cerebral ischemia and certain aggressive behaviors. This provides a novel target for therapy development against stroke and schizophrenia. / published_or_final_version / Biochemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Not available / text

Not available / text

This dissertation consists of four chapters. The first chapter provides an in-depth background of synthetic receptors for recognitions of phosphorylated molecules. This chapter covers synthetic receptors developed within the last two decades, and it focuses on the diverse functionalities and detection techniques involved in the receptor design. Chapter 2 discusses the synthesis and employment of a metalated receptor for the selective recognition of organic phosphates and phospho-amino acids, and describes a receptor with a pseudo tetrahedral cavity, which was found to be selective to phosphate, was synthesized utilizing a new and efficient synthetic route. UV-Vis titrations were used to determine binding constants for various organic phosphates and phospho-amino acids. The receptor:Cu(II) complex was found to differentiate the degree and size of phosphate substitutions. Chapter 3 describes the synthesis and application of a type of differential receptors for the recognition of phosphorylated tri-peptides from regular tri-peptides. The tri-peptide couples described in this chapter were part of sequences in protein Filamentous R-synuclein, which was discovered to have a close relation to Parkinson's disease. Extensive Ser129 phosphorylation was observed in diseased brains. Both solid phase and solution phase differential receptors were obtained in the investigations of peptide differentiation. A series of screening methods were applied to narrow down the system combinations. Linear discrimant analysis (LDA) statistical analysis generated a large spatial separation among six tripeptides. Chapter 4 describes the synthesis of a boronic acid based receptor for carboxy and phospho sugars recognition. Due to the large affinity to gluconic acid, which is the only product of enzyme catalyzed glucose oxidation, this receptor was successfully applied in determination of glucose concentration in human serum.

No description available.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are 7 transmembrane domain proteins capable of initiating cellular responses following ligand binding. GPR92 is expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) and is demonstrated to be involved in pain signalling via neurons of the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion (DRG). Activated by the endogenous lipid lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), GPR92 is now considered the 5th LPA receptor. There remains controversy regarding GPR92 pharmacology however, as studies show another endogenous lipid, farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), also activates GPR92 with similar potency and efficacy to LPA. LPA-induced activation of GPR92 results in increased intracellular calcium (Ca2+) and cAMP. Furthermore, GPR92 mediates neurite retraction via Rho kinase and activates the cAMP responsive element-binding (CREB) protein. This transcription factor is important in synaptic plasticity and regulates the expression of many neuronal genes including brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), yet the role of GPR92 in the brain has not been explored. Here, I describe the pharmacology and signalling of GPR92, with preliminary data describing its expression. I utilise a cell line lacking endogenous LPA responsiveness (B103 rat neuroblastoma) in which I stably express GPR92. Using intracellular Ca2+ changes and CREB phosphorylation as read-outs, I find FPP to be the most potent and efficacious ligand. The similarly structured lipid geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) produced comparable results to FPP. GPR92-mediated CREB phosphorylation has been described in a mouse model of pain. The ligands which induce this response however, have not been assessed. I describe for the first time, ligand-induced CREB phosphorylation via GPR92, and found that FPP causes the most robust CREB response. LPA and GGPP also induced GPR92-mediated CREB phsphorylation. Furthermore, I find that GPR92 mediates a novel Gq-dependent, Ca2+ independent, signalling pathway resulting in CREB phosphorylation. In addition, I examine GPR92 expression in the CNS using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and in situ hybridisation. GPR92 is expressed throughout the brain, with particularly high expression in 7 the brain stem, DRG, and hippocampus. In situ hybridisation revealed a distinct expression pattern confirming high levels of GPR92 mRNA in the hippocampal region. GPR92 mRNA is also observed in the cortex, habenula, thalamus and hypothalamus. I also report the expression of the FPP synthesising enzyme FPP synthase (FPPS). Relative expression levels of FPPS between CNS regions are similar to GPR92. Preliminary data suggests FPP is capable of mobilising Ca2+ in hippocampal neuronal and non-neuronal cells. These data suggest an important role for GPR92 in the brain where it, and the enzyme involved in generating one of its endogenous ligands, are highly expressed.