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Identifying G protein‐coupled receptor dimers from crystal packings
Author(s) -
Stenkamp Ronald E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
acta crystallographica section d
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.374
H-Index - 138
ISSN - 2059-7983
DOI - 10.1107/s2059798318008136
Subject(s) - g protein coupled receptor , rhodopsin , chemistry , membrane protein , structural biology , biophysics , crystal structure , crystallography , receptor , retinal , biology , membrane , biochemistry
Dimers of G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs) are believed to be important for signaling with their associated G proteins. Low‐resolution electron microscopy has shown rhodopsin dimers in native retinal membranes, and CXCR4 dimers have been found in several different crystal structures. Evidence for dimers of other GPCRs is more indirect. An alternative to computational modeling studies is to search for parallel dimers in the packing environments of the reported crystal structures of GPCRs. Two major structural types of GPCR dimers exist (as predicted by others), but there is considerable structural variation within each cluster. The different structural variants described here might reflect different functional properties and should provide a range of model structures for computational and experimental examination.