Illuminating Orphan GPCRs in Lymphatics

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R03 · $155,500 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since more than 40% of all clinically-available drugs target G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), there is great interest in learning more about this family of proteins in order to discover new therapeutic targets. When considering the different classes of proteins encoded by the human genome that are predicted to be pharmacologically-tractable, a remarkable one quarter represent GPCRs. And yet, of the ~345 non-odorant GPCRs a large proportion remain orphan—with no known ligand—or have uncharacterized physiological functions. Since we have a dearth of pharmacological targets for lymphatic vessels, it stands to reason that focused efforts to explore and characterize the lymphatic “GPCRome” is a worthwhile endeavor. We have identified 3 orphan GPCRs that are IDG-eligible target proteins in the Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) Project. We propose to develop and use in vitro and animal-based systems to further characterize the expression and activation of these GPCRs in the lymphatic vasculature. Our results will further the overall goals of the IDG Consortium and reveal novel physiological pathways and potential therapeutic targets for the modulation of lymphatics, which remains an understudied research area with unmet clinical needs.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10216726
Project number
1R03TR003368-01A1
Recipient
UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
Principal Investigator
Kathleen M Caron
Activity code
R03
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2021
Award amount
$155,500
Award type
1
Project period
2021-05-01 → 2022-04-30