Open AccessAn overview of the oxytocin‐oxytocin receptor signaling network
Author(s) -
Chatterjee Oishi,
Patil Krutika,
Sahu Apeksha,
Gopalakrishnan Lathika,
Mol Praseeda,
Advani Jayshree,
Mukherjee Srabani,
Christopher Rita,
Prasad T. S. Keshava
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of cell communication and signaling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1873-961X
pISSN - 1873-9601
DOI - 10.1007/s12079-016-0353-7
Subject(s) - oxytocin , oxytocin receptor , signal transduction , neuroscience , lactation , neuropeptide , hypothalamus , biology , bioinformatics , medicine , receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , pregnancy , genetics
Oxytocin, a nine amino acid long neuropeptide hormone, is synthesized in the hypothalamus and stored and released from the neural lobe of the pituitary gland. Although commonly known for its central role in the regulation of parturition and lactation, oxytocin signaling also plays a key role in modulating social behavior, evoking contentment, initiating maternal behavior, inducing trust, generosity and bonding in humans and animals. Oxytocin signaling can prove to be of great importance in therapeutics and drug targeting because of its diverse range of actions. However, a well annotated map of oxytocin signaling pathway is currently lacking in the publicly available pathway resources. Therefore, we systematically curated the available signaling information of oxytocin from published literature and collated the data to develop a more complete map. We cataloged 66 molecules belonging to oxytocin signaling pathway, which included 9 protein‐protein interactions, 39 post‐translational modifications, 14 protein translocation events and 22 activation/inhibition events. Further, Oxytocin signaling network data is made freely available to academic fraternity by integrating this into NetPath ( http://www.netpath.org /), a freely available human signaling pathway resource developed previously by our group.