In the face of increasingly frequent sleep problems, the use of melatonin treatment is an effective means. The function of melatonin is mainly mediated by two G-protein-coupled receptors, MT1 and MT2, to regulate circadian rhythms and sleep. MT1 is mainly distributed in the hypothalamus and mainly concentrated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which regulates rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and plays a major role in the regulation of circadian rhythm.[1] When melatonin binds to melatonin receptors in the body, it activates downstream pathways. Through literature search, we found that there are three pathways: cAMP-CREB pathway, PI3K-ERK pathway and calcium ion channel signaling pathway.[2] In the CAMP-CREB pathway, the activated PKA caused by the MT receptor is transferred to the nucleus, phosphorylation activates CREB, and binds to the cAMP response element (CRE) in the eukaryotic promoter. And the cofactor CREB-binding protein (CBP) phosphorylation synergies to regulate downstream gene transcription.。
We hope to design a reporter plasmid vector for the melatonin receptor pathway and introduce it into the recipient cells for reporting。This part is based on the cAMP-CREB pathway with MT1 acting as a cell receptor (Fig.1). 4xCRE-Pmin (BBa_K5267004) is loaded into the vector as signal response element, IgK (BBa_K3117006)is a signaling sequence, directing the protein into the secretory pathway , Nluc(BBa_K2728003)works as the original test report to detect cAMP concentration, [3] if it is successfully expressed, bGH_polyA (BBa_K1313006)is a terminator, controlling the cessation of gene expression .
Based on the composition of this part, it functions as a cAMP concentration detection platform, and finally, this part is successfully delivered into HEK293 cell line and currently works properly when stimulated by melatonin.