Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy (Feb 2021)

Role of lysophosphatidic acid and its receptors in health and disease: novel therapeutic strategies

  • Luiz Henrique Medeiros Geraldo,
  • Tânia Cristina Leite de Sampaio Spohr,
  • Rackele Ferreira do Amaral,
  • Anna Carolina Carvalho da Fonseca,
  • Celina Garcia,
  • Fabio de Almeida Mendes,
  • Catarina Freitas,
  • Marcos Fabio dosSantos,
  • Flavia Regina Souza Lima

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-020-00367-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 1
pp. 1 – 18

Abstract

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Abstract Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is an abundant bioactive phospholipid, with multiple functions both in development and in pathological conditions. Here, we review the literature about the differential signaling of LPA through its specific receptors, which makes this lipid a versatile signaling molecule. This differential signaling is important for understanding how this molecule can have such diverse effects during central nervous system development and angiogenesis; and also, how it can act as a powerful mediator of pathological conditions, such as neuropathic pain, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer progression. Ultimately, we review the preclinical and clinical uses of Autotaxin, LPA, and its receptors as therapeutic targets, approaching the most recent data of promising molecules modulating both LPA production and signaling. This review aims to summarize the most update knowledge about the mechanisms of LPA production and signaling in order to understand its biological functions in the central nervous system both in health and disease.