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Publication Date

2023-5

First Advisor

Sharon Owino

Document Type

Honors Project

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Neuroscience

Keywords

orphan GPCRs. GPR37, Müller glia, retina, injury response, zebrafish

Abstract

G protein-coupled receptor 37 (GPR37) is an orphan receptor that has been shown to maintain the stability of oligodendrocyte myelination. However, despite higher GPR37 expression in the Müller glia, the predominant glia in the retina, than in oligodendrocytes, its significance in this cell type remains poorly understood. Zebrafish Müller glia’s ability to reprogram itself to injured cell types makes zebrafish an excellent model to study retinal regeneration, though Gpr37 has not yet been studied in this organism. In the current study, we have characterized the expression of both gpr37 paralogs in zebrafish, namely gpr37a and gpr37b, in the first five days of development. We found that gpr37a is expressed in Müller glia starting from 3 days post fertilization, coinciding with the differentiation of Müller glia. We have also demonstrated that the knockdown of gpr37a impaired Müller glia’s response to injury, as shown by diminished hypertrophy of their processes and lower gfap intensity after photo damage-induced injury. Furthermore, we have examined two proposed ligands of the receptor, prosaptide and neuroprotectin D1, and found no evidence of receptor activation in the Gαi/Gαs pathway. Together, these findings highlight the importance of gpr37a in the zebrafish Müller glia during injury response and sheds light to its potential role in retinal regeneration, while providing some insight into GPR37’s orphan status.

Rights

©2023 Zhixin Liao. Access limited to the Smith College community and other researchers while on campus. Smith College community members also may access from off-campus using a Smith College log-in. Other off-campus researchers may request a copy through Interlibrary Loan for personal use.

Language

English

Comments

50 pages: color illustrations. Includes bibliographical references (pages 47-50).

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