Distribution, physiology and pharmacology of relaxin-3/RXFP3 systems in brain

Abstract

Relaxin-3 is a member of a superfamily of structurally-related peptides that includes relaxin and insulin-like peptide hormones. Soon after the discovery of the relaxin-3 gene, relaxin-3 was identified as an abundant neuropeptide in brain with a distinctive topographical distribution within a small number of GABAergic neuron populations that is well conserved across species. Relaxin-3 is thought to exert its biological actions through a single class-A GPCR – relaxin-family peptide receptor 3 (RXFP3). Class-A comprises GPCRs for relaxin-3 and insulin-like peptide-5 and other peptides such as orexin and the monoamine transmitters. The RXFP3 receptor is selectively activated by relaxin-3, where..