Merck Millipore GPR14 Membrane Preparation-200U

Urotensin II, a cyclic 11-13 residue peptide expressed in motoneurons of the spinal cord, acts as a potent vasoconstrictor (Coulouarn et al., 1998; Ames et al., 1999). The effects of urotensin II are mediated by binding to a GPCR, GPR14, which is expressed in endothelium, smooth muscle, heart and pancreas (Ames et al., 1999). Genetic deletion of GPR14 in mice renders aortae refractile to the contractile activity of urotensin II without changing baseline hemodynamics (Behm et al., 2003). Pharmacological inhibition of urotensin II/GPR14 interactions prevents renal insufficiency following renal artery ligation (Clozel et al., 2004). Thus, GPR14 is an attractive target for a number of cardiovascular diseases. Chemicon's GPR14 Membrane Preparations are ideal tools for screening for antagonists of urotensin II/GPR14 interactions. The membrane preparations exhibit a Kd of 0.4 nM for [125I]-urotensin II. With 10 mg/well GPR14 Membrane Prep and 0.3 nM [125I]-urotensin II, a greater than 20-fold signal-to-background ratio is obtained.