What is it about?
The Y2 receptor could help in reduction of food intake, opposing activity of another receptor that responds to similar peptides (the Y1 receptor). The two receptors seem to be a Yin/Yang pair. Another important role is in support of cell adhesion, as we show for cells in culture. There are very large numbers of Y2 receptors in kidney cortex, possibly serving in maintenance and regulation of cellular associations that perform blood filtration to produce urine.
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Why is it important?
The Y2 receptor could significantly participate in the regulation of feeding. A more important role (thus far not sufficiently studied) is in dynamic regulation of cell adhesion, especially in the kidney (and possibly also in skin, and even in the eye).
Perspectives
The role of Y2 receptor in cell association obviously deserves further study. In terms of expenditure of materials and energy in a cell, this receptor (constituted of only about 380 amino acid residues) is much cheaper to make than many 'typical' adhesion proteins (usually having more than 1000 amino acid residues), and it might serve as a general helper in cell adhesion.
Prof. Steven L Parker
UTHSC Memphis
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Neuropeptide Y Y2 receptor in health and disease, British Journal of Pharmacology, December 2008, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1038/bjp.2008.376.
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