Gpr37l1-Ptch1 interaction in the murine cerebellum during postnatal development and adulthood

The mammalian G-protein coupled receptor 37-like 1 (Gpr37l1) is specifically expressed in cerebellar Bergmann glia astrocytes and participates in the regulation of postnatal cerebellar granule neuron proliferation-differentiation, Bergmann glia and Purkinje neuron maturation. The Gpr37l1 protein interacts with the patched 1 (Ptch1) component of the primary cilium-associated, sonic hedgehog (Shh) receptor complex. Primary cilia are slender plasma membrane protrusions, found in most mammalian cell types. They crucially sense, integrate and transduce a variety of physico-chemical extracellular stimuli. Increasing evidence indicates that primary cilia are key coordinators of tissue- and cell type-specific signaling pathways during development and in tissue homeostasis and, when defective, are a major cause of human diseases and developmental disorders. Ciliary functions are, in particular, required for cerebellar differentiation and Shh-dependent proliferation of neuronal granule precursors (GCPs). We are investigating the functional interaction between Gpr37l1 and Ptch1, as modulating the Shh-Ptch1-smoothened mitogenic pathway in primary cilia of murine cerebellum, during postnatal development and adulthood.