Structure-activity relationships of G protein-coupled receptors - PubMed (original) (raw)

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Structure-activity relationships of G protein-coupled receptors

A Ulloa-Aguirre et al. Arch Med Res. 1999 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

The primary function of cell-surface receptors is to discriminate the specific signaling molecule or ligand from a large array of chemically diverse extracellular substances and to activate an effector signaling cascade that triggers an intracellular response and eventually a biological effect. G protein-coupled cell-surface receptors (GPCRs) mediate their intracellular actions through the activation of guanine nucleotide-binding signal-transducing proteins (G proteins), which form a diverse family of regulatory GTPases that, in the GTP-bound state, bind and activate downstream membrane-localized effectors. Hundreds of GPCRs signal through one or more of these G proteins in response to a large variety of stimuli including photons, neurotransmitters, and hormones of variable molecular structure. The mechanisms by which these ligands provoke activation of the receptor/G-protein system are highly complex and multifactorial. Knowledge and mapping of the structural determinants and requirements for optimal GPCR function are of paramount importance, not only for a better and more detailed understanding of the molecular basis of ligand action and receptor function in normal and abnormal conditions, but also for a rational design of early diagnostic and therapeutic tools that may allow exogenous regulation of receptor and G protein function in disease processes.

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