G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play important roles in helping the kidney to maintain homeostasis, but, there are many GPCRs which are well-expressed in the kidney but do not have a known functional role. We are interested in uncovering the roles of these “understudied” renal GPCRs. Many of these receptors are “chemosensory” GPCRs – olfactory or taste receptors – thus, we are working to understand how the kidney leverages these powerful chemosensors to help support kidney function. Several of the receptors we study are also expressed in the cardiovascular system, and thus we are also interested in how these receptors help to modulate cardiovascular function.
Selected Papers from this Research
Kui M, Pluznick JL, Zaidman NA. The transcription factor Foxi1 promotes expression of V-ATPase and Gpr116 in M-1 cells. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2023 Mar 1;324(3):F267-F273.
Xu J, Pluznick JL. Key amino acids alter activity and trafficking of a well-conserved olfactory receptor. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2022 Jun 1;322(6):C1279-C1288. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35544696/
Pluznick JL, Zou DJ, Zhang X, Yan Q, Rodriguez-Gil DJ, Eisner C, Wells E, Greer CA, Wang T, Firestein S, Schnermann J, Caplan MJ. Functional Expression of the Olfactory Signaling System in the Kidney. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Feb 10;106(6):2059-64. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Pluznick JL#, Protzko RJ, Gevorgyan H, Peterlin Z, Sipos A, Han J, Brunet I, Wan L, Rey FE, Wang T, Firestein SJ, Yanagisawa M, Gordon JI, Eichmann A, Peti-Peterdi J, Caplan MJ. An Olfactory Receptor Responding to Gut Microbiota-Derived Signals Plays a Role in Renin Secretion and Blood Pressure Regulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013. Mar 12;110(11):4410-5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Shepard BD, Natarajan N, Protzko RJ, Acres OW, Pluznick JL. A Cleavable N-terminal Signal Peptide Promotes Widespread Olfactory Receptor Surface Expression in HEK293T Cells. PLoS One. 2013 Jul 1;8(7):e68758. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Rajkumar P, Aisenberg WH, Acres OW, Protzko RJ, Pluznick JL. Identification and Characterization of Novel Renal Sensory Receptors. PLoS One. 2014 Oct 23;9(10):e111053. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Shepard BD, Cheval L, Peterlin Z, Firestein S, Koepsell H, Doucet A, Pluznick JL. A Renal Olfactory Receptor Aids in Kidney Glucose Handling. Sci Rep. 2016 Oct 14;6:32515. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Aisenberg WH, Huang J, Zhu W, Rajkumar P, Cruz R, Santhanam L, Natarajan N, Yong HM, De Santiago B, Oh JJ, Yoon AR, Panettieri RA, Homann O, Sullivan JK, Liggett SB, Pluznick JL, An SS. Defining an olfactory receptor function in airway smooth muscle cells. Sci Rep 2016 Dec 1;6:38231. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Rajkumar P, Cha B, Yin J, Arend L, Paunescu T, Hirabayashi Y, Donowitz M, Pluznick JL. Identifying the localization and exploring a functional role for Gprc5c in the kidney. FASEB J. 2017 Dec 1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Dalesio NM, Barreto Ortiz SF, Pluznick JL, Berkowitz DE. Olfactory, Taste, and Photo Sensory Receptors in Non-sensory Organs: It Just Makes Sense. Front Physiol. 2018 Nov 27; 9:1673. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Shepard BD, Koepsell H, Pluznick JL. Renal olfactory receptor 1393 contributes to the progression of type 2 diabetes in a diet-induced obesity model. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2019 Feb 1;316(3):F372-F381. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Halperin Kuhns VL, Sanchez J, Sarver DC, Khalil Z, Rajkumar P, Marr KA, Pluznick JL. Characterizing Novel Olfactory Receptors Expressed in the Renal Cortex. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2019 May 1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Smith TA, Moore BN, Matoso A, Berkowitz DE DeBerry JJ, Pluznick JL. Identification of novel bladder sensory GPCRs. Physiol Rep. 2021 Apr;9(8):e14840. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Huang J, Lam H, Koziol-White C, Limjunyawong N, Kim D, Kim N, Karmacharya N, Rajkumar P, Firer D, Dalesio NM, Jode J, Kurten RC, Pluznick JL, Deshpande DA, Penn RB, Liggett SB, Panettieri Jr RA, Dong X, An SS. The odorant receptor OR2W3 on airway smooth muscle evokes bronchodilation via a cooperative chemosensory tradeoff between TMEM16A and CFTR. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Nov 10;117(45):28485-28495. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Zaidman NA, Tomilin VN, Khayyat NH, Damarla M, Tidmore J, Capen D, Brown D, Pochynyuk O, Pluznick JL. Adhesion-GPCR Gpr116 (ADGRF5) Expression Inhibits Renal Acid Secretion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Oct 2020, 202007620; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2007620117 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.