GFRAL is A Novel GDF-15 Receptor with a Putative Role in Appetite Disorders

Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15) has long been recognized as a circulating biomarker for a range of human disorders, and elevated levels have been associated with suppression of appetite. The receptor for this effect was recently revealed in four nature.com publications to be GDNF receptor-alpha-like (GFRAL), a distant member of the GDNF R family of proteins (1-4). The full receptor complex is composed of both Ret tyrosine kinase and GFRAL dimers. This newly discovered role for GFRAL places it in a position to act as a drug target for appetite regulation and obesity. This is an exciting finding given the impact obesity-related disorders have on economic and social well-being. Finally, GFRAL could also be targeted in a number of other contexts, including: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, endocrine disorders, and brain attack.

R&D Systems is pleased to offer purified His tagged or Fc-tagged Recombinant Human GFRAL to assist in studies designed to gain a further understanding of GFRAL activity. These new proteins bind to Recombinant GDF-15 in the pg/mL range.

Figure 1: His-tagged GFRAL binds GDF-15. When Recombinant Human GFR alpha-like (Catalog # 9647-GR) is immobilized at 0.1 µg/mL, 100 µL/well, it binds to Recombinant Human GDF-15 (Catalog # 9279-GD) with an ED₅₀ of 0.15-0.9 ng/mL.

Don’t forget that we span the research workflow. Explore GFRAL-related products from all Bio-Techne brands!

References

1. Emmerson, P.J. et al. (2017) Nat. Med. 23:1215.
2. *Mullican, S.E. et al. (2017) Nat. Med. 23:1150.
3. Yang, L. et al. (2017). Nat. Med. 23:1158.
4. Hsu, J.Y. et al. (2017) Nature 550:255.

Related Information

• Diabetes
• Obesity