Title:Nuclear Membranes GPCRs: Implication in Cardiovascular Health and Diseases
VOLUME: 12 ISSUE: 2
Author(s):Ghassan Bkaily, Johny Al-Khoury and Danielle Jacques
Affiliation:Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Universite de Sherbrooke, 3001- 12th Avenue North, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada J1H 5N4.
Keywords:Angiotensin II, endothelin-1, GPCR, neuropeptide Y, nuclear receptors, PAF, prostaglandins, VIP receptors.
Abstract:G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are commonly present at the plasma membrane and their signaling
modulates excitation-contraction coupling and excitation-secretion coupling of excitable and non-excitable cells of the
cardiovascular system. Their effect on excitation-gene expression coupling was attributed, in part, to the nuclear translocation
of their signaling and/or to the entry into the nuclear membrane of the internalized GPCRs. However, the recently established
paradigm showed that, in addition to plasma membrane G-proteins, GPCRs exist as native nuclear membranes
receptors and they modulate nuclear ionic homeostasis and function. These nuclear membrane GPCRs could function independently
of plasma membrane GPCRs. Growing evidence also shows that these nuclear membrane GPCRs contribute
to protein synthesis and also undergo changes in pathological conditions. The presence of a GPCR at both the plasma and
nuclear membranes and/or only at the nuclear membranes represents a new challenge to better understand their contribution
to cell physiology and pathology and, consequently, to the development of new therapeutic drugs targeting this category
of receptors.
