Apelin peptides have recently been identified to be the endogenous ligands for the G protein-coupled receptor APJ. However, little is known about the physiological roles of this ligand-receptor pairing. In the present study we investigated the pharmacology of several apelin analogues at the human recombinant APJ receptor using radioligand binding and functional assays. This has led to the identification of key residues in the apelin peptide required for functional potency and binding affinity through structure-activity studies. In particular, we have identified that replacement of leucine in position 5, or arginine in position 2 and 4 of the C-terminal apelin peptide, apelin-13, resulted in significant changes in pharmacology. We also investigated the detailed localization of pre-proapelin and APJ receptor mRNA in a wide range of human, rat and mouse tissues using quantitative RT-PCR, and carried out a detailed immunohistochemical study of the distribution of the APJ receptor in rat brain and spinal cord. Interestingly, the APJ receptor was not only co-localized in white matter with GFAP in the spinal cord, but was also clearly localized on neurones in the brain, suggesting that this receptor and its peptide may be involved in a wide range of biological process yet to be determined.

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Uridine 5-diphosphoglucose (UDP-glucose) has a well established biochemical role as a glycosyl donor in the enzymatic biosynthesis of carbohydrates. It is less well known that UDP-glucose may possess pharmacological activity, suggesting that a receptor for this molecule may exist. Here, we show that UDP-glucose, and some closely related molecules, potently activate the orphan G protein-coupled receptor KIAA0001 heterologously expressed in yeast or mammalian cells. Nucleotides known to activate P2Y receptors were inactive, indicating the distinctly novel pharmacology of this receptor. The receptor is expressed in a wide variety of human tissues, including many regions of the brain. These data suggest that some sugar-nucleotides may serve important physiological roles as extracellular signaling molecules in addition to their familiar role in intermediary metabolism.

The underlying causes of obesity are poorly understood but probably involve complex interactions between many neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems involved in the regulation of food intake and energy balance. Three pieces of evidence indicate that the neuropeptide melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is an important component of this system. First, MCH stimulates feeding when injected directly into rat brains; second, the messenger RNA for the MCH precursor is upregulated in the hypothalamus of genetically obese mice and in fasted animals; and third, mice lacking MCH eat less and are lean. MCH antagonists might, therefore, provide a treatment for obesity. However, the development of such molecules has been hampered because the identity of the MCH receptor has been unknown until now. Here we show that the 353-amino-acid human orphan G-protein-coupled receptor SLC-1 expressed in HEK293 cells binds MCH with sub-nanomolar affinity, and is stimulated by MCH to mobilize intracellular Ca2+ and reduce forskolin-elevated cyclic AMP levels. We also show that SLC-1 messenger RNA and protein is expressed in the ventromedial and dorsomedial nuclei of the hypothalamus, consistent with a role for SLC-1 in mediating the effects of MCH on feeding.

Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), a 19 amino acid cyclic peptide, is largely expressed in the hypothalamus. It is implicated in the control of general arousal and goal-orientated behaviours in mammals, and appears to be a key messenger in the regulation of food intake. An understanding of the biological actions of MCH has been so far hampered by the lack of information about its receptor(s) and their location in the brain. We recently identified the orphan G-protein-coupled receptor SLC-1 as a receptor for the neuropeptide MCH. We used in situ hybridization histochemistry and immunohistochemistry to determine the distribution of SLC-1 mRNA and its protein product in the rat brain and spinal cord. SLC-1 mRNA and protein were found to be widely and strongly expressed throughout the brain. Immunoreactivity was observed in areas that largely overlapped with regions mapping positive for mRNA. SLC-1 signals were observed in the cerebral cortex, caudate-putamen, hippocampal formation, amygdala, hypothalamus and thalamus, as well as in various nuclei of the mesencephalon and rhombencephalon. The distribution of the receptor mRNA and immunolabelling was in good general agreement with the previously reported distribution of MCH itself. Our data are consistent with the known biological effects of MCH in the brain, e.g. modulation of the stress response, sexual behaviour, anxiety, learning, seizure production, grooming and sensory gating, and with a role for SLC-1 in mediating these physiological actions.