Tubulogenesis by epithelial cells regulates kidney, lung, and mammary development, whereas that by endothelial cells regulates vascular development. Although functionally dissimilar, the processes necessary for tubulation by epithelial and endothelial cells are very similar. We performed microarray analysis to further our understanding of tubulogenesis and observed a robust induction of regulat...

Regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins regulate certain G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-mediated signaling pathways. The GABA(B) receptor (GABA(B)R) is a GPCR that plays a role in the stress response. Previous studies indicate that acute immobilization stress (AIS) decreases RGS4 in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hypothalamus (HY) and suggest the possibility of a signal complex com...

The Regulator of G protein signaling 4 (RGS4) gene is a candidate susceptibility gene for schizophrenia (SCZ). Previous studies showed that the mRNA level of the longest splice variant RGS4-1 was decreased in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of SCZ patients compared with healthy controls. In this pilot study, we examined the possible mechanisms of RGS4-1 mRNA reduction in SCZ. We geno...

Regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins are regulators of Ca(2+) signaling that accelerate the GTPase activity of the G-protein α-subunit. RGS1, RGS2, RGS4, and RGS16 are expressed in the pancreas, and RGS2 regulates G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR)-induced Ca(2+) oscillations. However, the role of RGS4 in Ca(2+) signaling in pancreatic acinar cells is unknown. In this study, we inves...

For the identification of regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) modulators, previously, we developed a luciferase based yeast pheromone response (YPhR) assay to functionally investigate RGS4 (K.H. Young, Y. Wang, C. Bender, S. Ajit, F. Ramirez, A. Gilbert, B.W. Nieuwenhuijsen, in: D.P. Siderovski (Ed.), Meth. Enzymol. 389 Regulators of G_protein Signaling, Part A, 2004.). To extend the divers...

introduction: regulators of g-protein signaling protein negatively control g protein -coupled receptor signaling duration by accelerating gα subunit guanosine triphosphate hydrolysis. since regulator of g-protein signaling4 has an important role in modulating morphine effects at the cellular level and the exact mechanism(s) of adrenalectomy-induced morphine sensitization have not been fully cla...

COPI, a protein complex consisting of coatomer and the small GTPase ARF1, is an integral component of some intracellular transport carriers. The association of COPI with secretory membranes has been implicated in the maintenance of Golgi integrity and the normal functioning of intracellular transport in eukaryotes. The regulator of G protein signaling, RGS4, interacted with the COPI subunit bet...

RGS2 and RGS4 were studied for their effects as GTPase activating proteins (GAPs) on receptor-activated G(i) in a novel steady-state assay using membranes from Sf9 cells quadruply infected with baculoviruses encoding the m2 muscarinic receptor, G(alphai2), G(beta1), and G(gamma2). In the presence of the muscarinic agonist carbachol, regulator of G protein signaling 2 (RGS2) and RGS4 each produc...

RGS proteins are GTPase activators for heterotrimeric G proteins. We report here the 2.8 A resolution crystal structure of the RGS protein RGS4 complexed with G(i alpha1)-Mg2+-GDP-AlF4 . Only the core domain of RGS4 is visible in the crystal. The core domain binds to the three switch regions of G(i alpha1), but does not contribute catalytic residues that directly interact with either GDP or AlF...

Vascular inflammation is a major contributor to the severity of acute kidney injury. In the context of vasospasm-independent reperfusion injury we studied the potential anti-inflammatory role of the Gα-related RGS protein, RGS4. Transgenic RGS4 mice were resistant to 25 min injury, although post-ischemic renal arteriolar diameter was equal to the wild type early after injury. A 10 min unilatera...