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Novel interactions between Mas and Angiotensin receptors and their functionality modulatory role for the brain RAS
* 1, 2 , 1, 2 , 2, 3 , 2, 4 , 2, 4 , 1 , 2, 5 , 1, 2
1  Department Biochemistry and Molecular Biomedicine, School of Biology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 643, Barcelona, Catalonia 08028, Spain
2  Centro de Investigación en Red, Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIberNed), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Valderrebollo 5, Madrid, Madrid 28031, Spain
3  Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology of Parkinson’s disease, Research Center for Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CIMUS), Department of Morphological Sciences, IDIS, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela 15782,
4  Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology of Parkinson’s disease, Research Center for Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CIMUS), Department of Morphological Sciences, IDIS, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela 15782,
5  Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, School of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia 08028, Spain
Academic Editor: Stephen Meriney

Abstract:

The renin–angiotensin system (RAS) not only plays an important role in controlling blood pressure but also participates in almost every process to maintain homeostasis in mammals. The occurrence of RAS in the basal ganglia suggests that the system may be targeted to improve the therapy of neurodegenerative diseases. We found heteromers formed by Mas and angiotensin receptors and addressed their functionality in neurons and microglia. Novel interactions formed by MAS/AT1R and MAS/AT2R were discovered by using resonance energy transfer techniques. In the heterologous system, we showed that the three receptors—MasR, AT1R, and AT2R—can interact to form heterotrimers. The functionality of individual and interacting receptors was assayed by measuring levels of the second messengers cAMP and Ca2+ in transfected human embryonic kidney cells (HEK-293T) and primary cultures of striatal cells. Functionality and expression were assayed in parallel in primary cultures of microglia treated or not with lipopolysaccharide and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) to simulate neuroinflammation conditions. The proximity ligation assay (PLA) was used to assess heteromer expression in parkinsonian and dyskinetic conditions. In all cases, agonist-induced signaling was reduced upon coactivation, and in some cases just by coexpression. Also, the blockade of signaling of two receptors in a complex by the action of a given (selective) receptor antagonist (cross-antagonism) was often observed. The negative modulation of calcium mobilization (mediated by AT1R activation), the multiplicity of possibilities on RAS affecting the MAPK pathway, and the disbalanced expression of heteromers in dyskinesia yield new insight into the operation of the RAS system, how it becomes unbalanced, and how a disbalanced RAS can be rebalanced. Furthermore, RAS components in activated microglia warrant attention in drug-development approaches to address neurodegeneration.

Keywords: Parkinson, GPCR, RAS, Mas, AT1, AT2, Angiotensin
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