Víctor Fernández-Dueñas

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• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at University of Barcelona

Introduction Chronic pain is a debilitating disease that is usually comorbid to anxiety and depression. Current treatment approaches mainly rely on analgesics but often neglect emotional aspects. Nonpharmacological interventions, such as listening to music, have been incorporated into clinics to provide a more comprehensive management of chronic pa...

The orphan G protein-coupled receptor 37 (GPR37), widely associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), undergoes proteolytic processing under physiological conditions. The N-terminus domain is proteolyzed by a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM-10), which generates various membrane receptor forms and ectodomain shedding (ecto-GPR37) in the extr...

Chronic pain is a debilitating disease that is usually comorbid to anxiety and depression. Current treatment approaches primarily rely on analgesics, but they often neglect emotional aspects. Non-pharmacological interventions have been incorporated into clinics to provide a more comprehensive management of chronic pain. Among these interventions, l...

Background The orphan G protein-coupled receptor 37 (GPR37), widely associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), undergoes proteolytic processing under physiological conditions. The N-terminus domain is proteolyzed by a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM-10), which generates various membrane receptor forms and ectodoamin shedding (ecto-GPR37)...

Chronic pain and depression are highly prevalent pathologies and cause a major socioeconomic burden to society. Chronic pain affects the emotional state of the individuals suffering from it, while depression worsens the prognosis of chronic pain patients and may diminish the effectiveness of pain treatments. There is a high comorbidity rate between...

Background Chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) treatment’s primary goal is to maintain physical and mental functioning while improving quality of life. Opioid use in CNCP patients has increased in recent years, and non-pharmacological interventions such as music listening have been proposed to counter it. Unlike other auditive stimuli, music can activat...

Objectives: Cannabidiol (CBD) is a phytocannabinoid with great potential in clinical applications. The mechanism(s) of action of CBD require further investigation. Previous studies suggested that adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) could play a role in CBD-induced effects. Here, we evaluated the ability of CBD to modify the function of A2AR. Methods:...

G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest family of plasma membrane receptors and the main drug targets in therapeutics. GPCRs can establish direct receptor‐receptor interactions (oligomerization), which can also be considered as targets for drug development (GPCR oligomer‐based drugs). However, prior to designing any novel GPCR ol...

The σ1 receptor (S1R) is a ligand-regulated non-opioid intracellular receptor involved in several pathological conditions. The development of S1R-based drugs as therapeutic agents is a challenge due to the lack of simple functional assays to identify and classify S1R ligands. We have developed a novel nanoluciferase binary technology (NanoBiT) assa...

The modulation of the A2B adenosine receptor is a promising strategy in cancer (immuno) therapy, with A2BAR antagonists emerging as immune checkpoint inhibitors. Herein, we report a systematic assessment of the impact of (di- and mono-)halogenation at positions 7 and/or 8 on both A2BAR affinity and pharmacokinetic properties of a collection of A2BA...

Adenosine modulates neurotransmission through inhibitory adenosine A1 receptors (A1Rs) and stimulatory A2A receptors (A2ARs). These G protein-coupled receptors are involved in motor function and related to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). An autosomal-recessive mutation (G2797.44S) within the transmembrane helix (TM) 7 o...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2020.00194.].

Objective α-Synuclein has been studied as a potential biomarker for Parkinson’s disease (PD) with no concluding results. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to find out reliable specific biomarkers for PD. GPR37 is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor that toxically accumulates in autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism. Here, we investigated wh...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest group of membrane receptor proteins controlling brain activity. Accordingly, GPCRs are the main target of commercial drugs for most neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. One of the mechanisms by which GPCRs regulate neuronal function is by homo- and heteromerization, with the establi...

Background and Purpose Opioid‐based drugs are the gold standard medicines for pain relief. However, tolerance and several side effects (i.e. constipation and dependence) may occur upon chronic opioid administration. Photopharmacology is a promising approach to improve the benefit/risk profiles of these drugs. Thus, opioids can be locally activated...

Adenosine receptors (ARs) play many important roles in physiology and have been recognized as potential targets for pain relief. Here, we introduce three photoswitchable adenosine derivatives that function as light-dependent agonists for ARs and confer optical control to these G protein-coupled receptors. One of our compounds, AzoAdenosine-3, was e...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest family of plasma membrane receptors, thus representing the more investigated drug targets in the design of new pharmacotherapeutic strategies. In this family of receptors, the binding of an agonist typically triggers the activation of heterotrimeric G proteins, which in turn control the pro...

Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) is one of the most broadly used methodologies to identify, validate, and characterize protein–protein interactions (PPIs) in native conditions. In this technique, a protein of interest is immunocaptured from a tissue lysate using a specific antibody. The immunocomplex containing the antibody, the antigen of interest,...

Photopharmacology, a pioneering research field, relies on the use of light to activate drugs with high spatiotemporal resolution. Interestingly, some light-regulated agents targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been recently developed, providing great pharmacological precision while controlling pain. Indeed, GPCRs, such as metabotropic...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the largest family of plasma membrane receptors. GPCRs are involved in a large variety of physiological and pathological processes in the central nervous system. Therefore, understanding their intracellular signaling pathways is of great interest in biomedical sciences. Several straightforward methods e...

Protein–protein interactions (PPI) play an important role in cellular functions and biological processes within the organism. G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) form the largest group of the receptors involved in cell signaling across the plasma membrane, thus being the main pharmacotherapeutic target. Importantly, GPCRs can interact between them,...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest family of cellular surface receptors and play a key role controlling a diverse array of developmental and physiological processes. Therefore, GPCRs constitute the targets of many modern therapeutics. Interestingly, GPCRs can interact (i.e., oligomerize) with other cell surface receptors and ion ch...

Fluorescence-based biosensors for membrane voltage allow dynamic optical recording of neuronal activity. Interestingly, the development of genetically encoded voltage indicators constitutes a good alternative to classical voltage-sensitive dyes, since they allow overcoming some of the inherent problems (e.g., optical noise, etc.) associated to orga...

According to the adenosine hypothesis of schizophrenia, the classically associated hyperdopaminergic state may be secondary to a loss of function of the adenosinergic system. Such a hypoadenosinergic state might either be due to a reduction of the extracellular levels of adenosine or alterations in the density of adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) or...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) signs and symptoms regularly include tremor. Interestingly, the nucleoside guanosine (GUO) has already proven to be effective in reducing reserpine-induced tremulous jaw movements (TJMs) in rodent models, thus becoming a promising antiparkinsonian drug. Here, we aimed at revealing the mechanism behind GUO antiparkinsonian e...

In recent years, new drug discovery approaches based on novel pharmacological concepts have emerged. Allosteric modulators, for example, target receptors at sites other than the orthosteric binding sites and can modulate agonist-mediated activation. Interestingly, allosteric regulation may allow a fine-tuned regulation of unbalanced neurotransmitte...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor control deficits, which is associated with the loss of striatal dopaminergic neurons from the substantia nigra. In parallel to dopaminergic denervation, there is an increase of acetylcholine within the striatum, resulting in a striatal dopaminergic–cholinergic neurotran...

Autosomal dominant mutations in GRIN2B are associated with severe encephalopathy, but little is known about the pathophysiological outcomes and any potential therapeutic interventions. Genetic studies have described the association between de novo mutations of genes encoding the subunits of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and severe neuro...

Background: It has been hypothesized that heteromers of adenosine A2A receptors (A2AR) and cannabinoid CB1 receptors (CB1R) localized in glutamatergic nerve terminals mediate the integration of adenosine and endocannabinoid signaling involved in the modulation of striatal excitatory neurotransmission. Previous studies have demonstrated the existen...

Guanosine, a guanine-based purine nucleoside, has been described as a neuromodulator that exerts neuroprotective effects in animal and cellular ischemia models. However, guanosine’s exact mechanism of action and molecular targets have not yet been identified. Here, we aimed to elucidate a role of adenosine receptors (ARs) in mediating guanosine eff...

Proximity ligation assay (PLA) is an antibody-based method that permits studying protein-protein interactions with high specificity and sensitivity. In brief, when a pair of specific antibodies is in close proximity, the complementary DNA strands they bear engage into a rolling circle amplification and generate, in situ, a single fluorescent signal...

At present, clinical interest in the plant-derived cannabinoid compound cannabidiol (CBD) is rising exponentially, since it displays multiple therapeutic properties. In addition, CBD can counteract the undesirable effects of the psychoactive cannabinoid Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC) that hinder clinical development of cannabis-based therapies. D...

Background: Several biophysical techniques have been successfully implemented to detect G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) heteromerization. Although these approaches have made it possible to ascertain the presence of GPCR heteromers in animal models of disease, no success has been accomplished in pathological human post-mortem brains. The AlphaSc...

Autosomal dominant mutations in GRIN2B are associated with severe encephalopathy, but little is known about the pathophysiological outcomes and any potential therapeutic interventions. Genetic studies have described the association between de novo mutations of genes encoding the subunits of the N -methyl- d -aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and severe ne...

Optopharmacology is a very promising approach based on the use of light-deliverable drugs, which allows manipulating physiological processes with high spatiotemporal resolution. Light-dependent drugs (i.e. caged-compounds) targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been developed to provide great pharmacological precision on the control of...

The functions of Sertoli cells, which structurally and functionally support ongoing spermatogenesis, are effectively modulated by thyroid hormones, amongst other molecules. We investigated the mechanism of action of rT3 on calcium (⁴⁵Ca²⁺) uptake in Sertoli cells by means of in vitro acute incubation. In addition, we performed electrophysiological...

Adenosine A2A receptors (A2AR) play a key role in modulating dopamine‐dependent locomotor activity, as heralded by the sensitization of locomotor activity upon chronic A2AR blockade, which is associated with elevated dopamine levels and altered corticostriatal synaptic plasticity. Since the orphan receptor GPR37 has been shown to modulate A2AR func...

The term antipsychotic drug (APD), also called a neuroleptic, refers to medications currently prescribed for the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases that display psychotic features (e.g., schizophrenia) [1]. Classification of APDs is mainly based on the profile of their adverse effects; in particular, liability to produce extrapyramidal symptoms...

The function of guanine-based purines (GBPs) is mostly attributed to the intracellular modulation of heteromeric and monomeric G proteins. However, extracellular effects of guanine derivatives have also been recognized. Thus, in the central nervous system (CNS), a guanine-based purinergic system that exerts neuromodulator effects, has been postulat...

Adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) antagonists have emerged as complementary non-dopaminergic drugs to alleviate Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptomatology. Here, we characterize a novel non-xhantine non-furan A2AR antagonist, PBF509, as a potential pro-dopaminergic drug for PD management. First, PBF509 was shown to be a highly potent ligand at the human A...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of unknown etiology. The main treatment of PD consists of medication with dopamine-based drugs, which palliate the symptoms but may produce adverse effects after chronic administration. Accordingly, there is a need to develop novel neuroprotective therapies. Several studies suggest that omega...

The molecular mechanism by which progesterone (P4) modulates the transport of ova and embryos along the oviduct is not fully resolved. We report a rapid response to P4 and agonists of γ-aminobutyric acid receptors A and B (GABAA/B) in the mouse oviduct that was characterized by oscillatory Ca²⁺ signals and increased ciliary beat frequency (CBF). Ph...

The hippocampus is a key brain region for memory formation. Metabotropic glutamate type 5 receptors (mGlu5R) are strongly expressed in CA1 pyramidal neurons and fine-tune synaptic plasticity. Accordingly, mGlu5R pharmacological manipulation may represent an attractive therapeutic strategy to manage hippocampal-related neurological disorders. Here,...

Background: Pridopidine, a compound in clinical trials for Huntington's disease treatment, was originally synthesized as a dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) ligand, but later found to possess higher affinity for the sigma-1 receptor (S1R). However, the putative contributions of D2R and S1R to the behavioral profile of acutely administered pridopidine hav...

Dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) activation triggers both G protein- and β-arrestin-dependent signaling. Biased D2R ligands activating β-arrestin pathway have been proposed as potential antipsychotics. The ability of D2R to heteromerize with adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) has been associated to D2R agonist-induced β-arrestin recruitment. Accordingly, here...

G protein-coupled adenosine receptors are promising therapeutic targets for a wide range of neuropathological conditions, including Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the ubiquity of adenosine receptors and the ultimate lack of selectivity of certain adenosine-based drugs have frequently diminished their therapeutic use. Photopharmacology is a nove...

Pridopidine is in clinical trials for Huntington's disease treatment. Originally developed as a dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) ligand, pridopidine displays about 100-fold higher affinity for the sigma-1 receptor (sigma-1R). Interestingly, pridopidine slows disease progression and improves motor function in Huntington's disease model mice and, in prelim...

Pain research is mostly based on experimental assays that use animal models, which may allow deciphering the physiopathology of this condition and to propel drug discovery. The formalin nociception test is considered one of the most predictive approaches to study acute pain in rodents. This test permits monitoring pain-related responses (i.e., itch...

G protein-coupled receptor 37 (GPR37) is an orphan receptor associated to Parkinson's disease (PD) neuropathology. Here, we identified GPR37 as an inhibitor of adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) cell surface expression and function in vivo. In addition, we showed that GPR37 and A2AR do oligomerize in the striatum. Thus, a close proximity of GPR37 and A2...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) exhibit the ability to form receptor complexes that include molecularly different GPCR (i.e. GPCR heteromers), which endow them with singular functional and pharmacological characteristics. The relative expression of GPCR heteromers remains a matter of intense debate. Recent studies support that adenosine A2A rece...

Guanosine (GUO) is a guanine-based purine nucleoside with important trophic functions and promising neuroprotective properties. Although the neuroprotective effects of GUO have been corroborated in cellular models of Parkinson’s disease (PD), its efficacy as an antiparkinsonian agent has not been fully explored in PD animal models. Accordingly, we...

The pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia relies on restoring a dysregulated striatal dopamine and prefrontal cortex glutamate neurotransmission. However, these treatments are usually insufficient to fully cover all the disease symptomatology (i.e., negative and cognitive symptoms). Thus, the search for alternative and/or complementary neurotransmitter...

Background N-Methyl D-Aspartate receptors (NMDARs) play pivotal roles in synaptic development, plasticity, neural survival, and cognition. Despite recent reports describing the genetic association between de novo mutations of NMDAR subunits and severe psychiatric diseases, little is known about their pathogenic mechanisms and potential therapeutic...

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a serious motor side effect that may appear after long-term treatment with neuroleptics and mostly mediated by dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs). Striatal D2R functioning may be finely regulated by either adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) or angiotensin receptor type 1 (AT1R) through putative receptor heteromers. Here, we examined...

Light-operated drugs constitute a major target in drug discovery, since they may provide spatiotemporal resolution for the treatment of complex diseases (i.e. chronic pain). JF-NP-26 is an inactive photocaged derivative of the metabotropic glutamate type 5 (mGlu5) receptor negative allosteric modulator raseglurant. Violet light illumination of JF-N...

Adenosine is a brain neuromodulator that exerts its actions through G protein-coupled adenosine receptors (ARs). Therefore, within the neural system these receptors have an inhibitory (i.e., adenosine A1 receptor, A1R) or excitatory (i.e., adenosine A2A receptor, A2AR) effect on synaptic transmission (i.e., excitatory glutamatergic synapses), thus...

Caffeine is a promising drug for the management of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), demonstrating neuroprotective properties that have been attributed to its interaction with the basal ganglia adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR). However, the doses needed to exert these neuroprotective effects may be too high. Thus, it is impo...

Aims: The present study analyzes molecular characteristics of the locus coeruleus (LC) and projections to the amygdala and hippocampus at asymptomatic early and middle Braak stages of neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) pathology. Methods: Immunohistochemistry, whole transcriptome arrays and RT-qPCR in LC, and western blotting in hippocampus and amygda...

An important field of study in pharmacology comprises the investigation of drug-target interaction kinetics. Thus, assessing both the lifetime of a drug on its receptor (i.e., drug-target residence time; Copeland, 2016) and the magnitude of drug-mediated receptor activation (i.e., drug efficacy) across the time are critical to understand in vivo ph...

GPR37 is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor highly expressed in the brain. The precise function of GPR37 is still unknown, but a number of evidences indicate it modulates the dopaminergic system. Here, we aimed to determine the role of GPR37 on the control of cocaine-mediated electrophysiological effects (synaptic transmission and short-term plas...

Volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs) play an important role in controlling cell volume by opening upon cell swelling. Recent work has shown that heteromers of LRRC8A with other LRRC8 members (B, C, D, and E) form the VRAC. Here, we used Xenopus oocytes as a simple system to study LRRC8 proteins. We discovered that adding fluorescent proteins to...

Guanine-based purines (GBPs) have been recently proposed to be not only metabolic agents but also extracellular signaling molecules that regulate important functions in the central nervous system. In such way, GBPs-mediated neuroprotection, behavioral responses and neuronal plasticity have been broadly described in the literature. However, while a...

Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) is one of the most broadly used methodologies to identify, validate and characterize protein–protein interactions (PPIs) in native conditions. In brief, this technique consists of immunocapturing a protein of interest from a tissue lysate using a specific antibody. Subsequently, the immunocomplex containing the antibo...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest family of plasma membrane receptors, thus representing the more investigated drug targets in the design of new therapeutic strategies. In this family of receptors, the binding of an agonist typically triggers the activation of heterotrimeric G proteins, which in turn control the propagation...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the largest family of plasma membrane receptors. GPCRs are involved in a large variety of physiological and also pathological processes in the central nervous system; thus, the understanding of their intracellular signaling pathways in the brain is a main goal in biomedical sciences. Several straightfor...

Fluorescence-based biosensors for membrane voltage (mV) allow dynamic optical recording of neuronal activity. Interestingly, the development of genetically encoded voltage indicators constitute a good alternative to classical voltage-sensitive dyes, thus allowing overcoming some of the inherent problems (e.g., optical noise, etc.) associated with t...

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) mediate a large number of functions within the organism, constituting one of the main drug targets in pharmacological research. In line with this, the phenomenon of GPCR oligomerization has gained interest during the last years, since novel drugs may be developed targeting these kinds of structures. Accordingly, d...

Facilitated anion transport potentially represents a powerful tool to modulate various cellular functions. However, research into the biological effects of small molecule anionophores are still at an early stage. Here we have used two potent anionophore molecules inspired in the structure of marine metabolites tambjamines to gain insight into the e...

The adenosinergic system operates through G protein-coupled adenosine receptors, which have become promising therapeutic targets for a wide range of pathological conditions. However, the ubiquity of adenosine receptors and the eventual lack of selectivity of adenosine-based drugs have frequently diminished their therapeutic potential. Accordingly,...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest family of plasma membrane receptors, thus representing the more investigated drug targets in the design of new therapeutic strategies. The existence of receptor-receptor interactions has revolutionized the field, since GPCR oligomerization might confer new intervention opportunities in phar...

The use of G protein-coupled receptors fluorescent ligands is undergoing continuous expansion. In line with this, fluorescent agonists and antagonists of high affinity for G protein-coupled adenosine and P2Y receptors have been shown to be useful pharmacological probe compounds. Fluorescent ligands for A1R, A2AR, and A3R (adenosine receptors) and P...

GPR37 is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor mostly enriched in brain areas such as the cerebellum, striatum and hippocampus. Identified as a substrate of parkin, GPR37 has been suggested to play a role in Parkinson's disease. Distributed throughout the brain, the function of GPR37, however, remains unknown. We now provide the first mapping of GPR...

The spatiotemporal characterization of protein-protein interactions is essential to understand nearly all cellular events. Several methodological strategies derived from noninvasive luminescence- and fluorescence-based approaches allow the detection of specific protein-protein interactions in living cells. Here, we describe the application of biolu...

The pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia is currently based on restoring striatal dopamine and prefrontal cortex glutamate neurotransmission. However, these therapies are usually insufficient to completely manage all disease symptoms (i.e., negative and cognitive symptoms). Thus, the study of alternative and/or complementary neurotransmitter...

Adenosine, a well-known neuromodulator in the central nervous system (CNS), exerts its actions through G protein-coupled adenosine receptors (ARs), which are also expressed in a large variety of cells and tissues. Interestingly, AR oligomerization has been shown in the CNS, constituting a molecular mechanism by which extracellular adenosine may mod...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a dopaminergic-related pathology in which basal ganglia functioning are altered. It has been postulated that a direct receptor-receptor - i.e. dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) and adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) - interaction may be finely regulating this brain area. Accordingly, elucidating whether the pathology prompts changes...

Group I metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors regulate hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron excitability via Ca(2+) wave-dependent activation of small-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (SK) channels. Here, we show that mGlu5 receptors and SK2 channels coassemble in heterologous coexpression systems and in rat brain. Further, in cotransfected cells or...

Caffeine, the most consumed psychoactive substance worldwide, may have beneficial effects on Parkinson's disease (PD) therapy. The mechanism by which caffeine contributes to its antiparkinsonian effects by acting as either an adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) neutral antagonist or an inverse agonist is unresolved. Here we show that caffeine is an A2AR...

The adenosinergic system operates through G protein-coupled adenosine receptors, which have become promising therapeutic targets for a wide range of pathological conditions. However, the ubiquity of adenosine receptors and the eventual lack of selectivity of adenosine-based drugs have frequently diminished their therapeutic potential. Accordingly,...

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the main family of cell surface receptors and are virtually expressed in all eukaryotic cells. Interestingly, a large number of clinically used drugs exert their pharmacological effect via a GPCR, thus it seems crucial to deeply understand the biology of these receptors. The study of GPCR activation and...

The thermodynamics of ligand-receptor interactions at the surface of living cells represents a fundamental aspect of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) biology; thus, its detailed elucidation constitutes a challenge for modern pharmacology. Interestingly, fluorescent ligands have been developed for a variety of GPCRs in order to monitor ligand-recep...