Participation of melanopsin in the thermoregulation of mammals

• Grant number: 21/01659-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Ana Maria de Lauro Castrucci
• Grantee: Giovanna Zanetti
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/24615-5 - Breaking a paradigm? Melanopsin, a canonical photo-pigment, acting as sensor to entrain the clock in light unexposed organs, and its putative interaction with TRP channels: a trans-disciplinary study involving physiological and pathological aspects, AP.TEM

Abstract

The opsins, proteins with seven transmembrane domains, are receptors specialized in perceiving the light from prokaryotes to man. Undoing the view that opsins are exclusively light sensors, today it is accepted that opsins form a family of multi-functional molecules that have the potential to perceive temperature and light. In mammals, melanopsin is a retinal photopigment found in a subset of intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which play a role in synchronizing the central circadian pacemaker with the day-light cycle. Many peripheral tissues were found to express melanopsin, being the heart the organ with the greatest expression. The heart is responsible for producing and secreting hormones known as natriuretic peptides (NPs), which show increased serum concentration after cold challenges. In addition, the influence of temperature on the expression of natriuretic peptide receptors in the brown adipose tissue has been established: mice challenged by low temperature release NPs that favor BAT thermogenesis. The project aims to assess the participation of melanopsin in the cardiac and brown adipose tissue responses in cold-stimulated wild type and melanopsin knockout mice. (AU)