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The G protein-coupled receptor melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) and its associated protein melanocortin receptor-associated protein 2 (MRAP2) are essential for the regulation of food intake and body weight in humans. MC4R localizes and functions at the neuronal primary cilium, a microtubule-based organelle that senses and relays extracellular signals. Here, we demonstrate that MRAP2 is critical for the weight-regulating function of MC4R neurons and the ciliary localization of MC4R. More generally, our study also reveals that GPCR localization to primary cilia can require specific accessory proteins that may not be present in heterologous cell culture systems. Our findings further demonstrate that targeting of MC4R to neuronal primary cilia is essential for the control of long-term energy homeostasis and suggest that genetic disruption of MC4R ciliary localization may frequently underlie inherited forms of obesity.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.155900 | DOI Listing |
Biomater Biosyst
September 2025
ENT and Head and Neck Research Center and Department, The Five Senses Health Institute, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Introduction: The airway mucosa plays a crucial role in protection and various physiological functions. Current methods for restoring airway mucosa, such as myocutaneous flaps or split skin grafts, create a stratified squamous layer that lacks the cilia and mucus-secreting glands of the native columnar-lined airway. This study examines the application of various injectable biopolymers as active molecules for a potential approach to regenerating laryngeal epithelial tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Mol Cell Biol
September 2025
School of Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) affects around 1 in 4000 individuals and represents approximately 25% of cases of vision loss in adults, through death of retinal rod and cone photoreceptor cells. It remains a largely untreatable disease, and research is needed to identify potential targets for therapy. Mutations in 94 different genes have been identified as causing RP, including AGBL5 which encodes the main deglutamylase that regulates and maintains functional levels of cilia tubulin glutamylation, which is essential to initiate ciliogenesis, maintain cilia stability and motility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Soc Nephrol
September 2025
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Background: Genetic modifiers are believed to play an important role in the onset and severity of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), but identifying these modifiers has been challenging due to the lack of effective methodologies.
Methods: We generated zebrafish mutants of IFT140, a skeletal ciliopathy gene and newly identified autosomal dominant PKD (ADPKD) gene, to examine skeletal development and kidney cyst formation in larval and juvenile mutants. Additionally, we utilized ift140 crispants, generated through efficient microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ)-based genome editing, to compare phenotypes with mutants and conduct a pilot genetic modifier screen.
JCI Insight
September 2025
Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences & Euan MacDonald Centre for M, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disease caused by low levels of SMN protein. Several therapeutic approaches boosting SMN are approved for human patients, delivering remarkable improvements in lifespan and symptoms. However, emerging phenotypes, including neurodevelopmental comorbidities, are being reported in some treated SMA patients, indicative of alterations in brain development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain
September 2025
IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, UOC Clinica Neurologica, Bologna, 40139, Italy.
An early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) represents a challenge and novel accurate biomarkers are therefore urgently needed. Detection of phosphorylated α-synuclein (p-α-syn) in skin nerve fibers has shown promise as such a marker. However, its accuracy for the identification of PD among patients with early signs of parkinsonism has not been thoroughly explored.
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