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SUMMARY:Roles of receptor activity modifying proteins (RAMPs) in receptor 
 biology\, physiology and disease - Professor Tim Skerry\, School of Medici
 ne and Biomedical Sciences\, University of Sheffield
DTSTART:20110511T153000Z
DTEND:20110511T163000Z
UID:TALK30578@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Suzy Blows
DESCRIPTION:The way that cells communicate with each other is central to f
 unction at the level of cell\, tissue and organism.  G-protein coupled rec
 eptors are responsible for much of the perception of signals by cells\, an
 d the majority of current drugs act on receptors.  Receptors were original
 ly thought to function in a simple way\, switching on intracellular proces
 ses when ligands bound to their extracellular domain.  More recently it ha
 s been shown that receptors possess “ligand-dependent functional selecti
 vity” – a way for different ligands to bind and cause multiple differe
 nt intracellular events\, depending on the structure and binding site of t
 he ligand.  Our research into so-called receptor activity modifying protei
 ns or RAMPs has shown that these small molecules have the ability to assoc
 iate with a receptor to alter the ability of a single ligand to induce  in
 tracellular changes when binding to the same receptor – a novel innate f
 unctional selectivity controlled by the cell.  This is reflected in the wa
 y that RAMPs affect a wide range of physiological processes\, such as regu
 lation of blood pressure\, lactation\, placentation and bone mass/architec
 ture.  Finally RAMPs have important roles in signalling in cancer\, and an
 tibodies to specific RAMPs have profound inhibitory effects on tumour deve
 lopment.  RAMPs specifically and receptor accessory proteins more generall
 y may therefore become significant drug targets in the future.
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre 1\, Department of Veterinary Medicine
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