This post covers three recent publications with a common theme and whose authors are collaborators with GtoPdb, thus making them as a trio particularly suitable for combined review. These are; Discovery of Human Signaling Systems: Pairing Peptides to G Protein-Coupled…
Blog Archives
Hot Topics: Virtual screening on the crystal structure of the G protein-coupled melatonin MT1 receptor reveals several new chemical scaffolds with biological activity
Melatonin targets two high-affinity receptors, MT1 and MT2, that belong to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily (1,2). Drugs acting on melatonin receptors are subscribed for circadian disorders (jet lag, shift work, etc.), insomnia and major depression (3). All marketed…
Hot Topics: Deciphering the crystal structure of the leukotriene receptor CysLT2 opens up for improved therapeutics
Leukotrienes are lipid mediators of inflammation, initially recognized for their role in asthma, but also having potent effects in for example cardiovascular and neurological diseases as well as in cancer. The initial pharmacological classification of leukotriene receptors based on antagonist…
Hot Topics: New crystal structure of the muscarinic M5 receptor completes the set
Muscarinic receptors consist of 5 G protein-coupled receptors which along with nicotinic ion channels mediate the effects of acetylcholine. Despite years of research on the role of muscarinic receptors in the brain and periphery the Muscarinic M5 receptor has stood…
Hot Topics: GPR139 as a potential target for increasing opioid safety
The cross-talk between different G protein-coupled receptor signal-transduction pathways is an intriguing concept with important physiological implications [1]. A recent study by Wang et al. [2] has discovered that the actions of opioid drugs on the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) are…
Hot Topics: Time to FRET about GPCR activation dynamics?
G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are crucial for the transduction of extracellular stimuli to the intracellular space. Upon activation, GPCRs undergo large conformational changes to engage transducers and stimulate intracellular responses. However, the kinetics of agonist induced GPCR conformational changes…
Hot Topic: Structural details for coupling of the agonist-occupied µ opioid receptor (amongst others) to the Gi protein
Every few years in the field of receptor pharmacology, a technological advance occurs that drives the field forward in terms of insight and understanding. Over the past couple of years, the cryo-EM technique (the development of which won the 2017…
Database release 2018.2
Our second database release of the year, 2018.2, is now available. This update contains the following new features and content changes: Content updates GPCRs: 5-Hydroxytryptamine receptors Adenosine receptors Adrenoceptors Histamine receptors Opioid receptors Lysophospholipid (S1P) receptors Prostanoid receptors NHRs: Mineralocorticoid…
Tagged with: database, GPCRs, ion channels, out-links
Posted in Database updates, Guide to Malaria Pharmacology
Posted in Database updates, Guide to Malaria Pharmacology
Hot topic: Engineered mini G proteins provide a useful tool for studying the activation of GPCRs in living cells
In order to stabilize the GPCR-G protein complex, an agonist must be bound to the receptor and the alpha subunit of the heterotrimer must be in a nucleotide-free state. Ground-breaking work by expert crystallographers made use of so-called mini G…
Hot topic: The G Protein-Coupled Receptors deorphanization landscape.
Within the vast GPCR superfamily, orphans are described as receptors devoid of known endogenous ligands. They have been labeled as 7 transmembrane proteins by sequence homology and dispatched accordingly in the different GPCR subfamilies. They have attracted much attention given…
Hot topic: Pharmacogenomics of GPCR Drug Targets
A system of rigorous clinical trials and regulation exist to ensure that a new drug is safe and effective when reaching the market. However, natural human genetic variation(s) may cause individuals to respond differently to the same medication. A collaboration…
Hot topic: Trends in GPCR drug discovery: new agents, targets and indications
New avenues for GPCR drug discovery have emerged owing to recent advances in receptor pharmacology, technological breakthroughs in structural biology and innovations in biotechnology. A collaboration between the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen (home of the…
Hot topic: A new research avenue investigating mitochondrial GPCR biology
As one of the first propositions for GPCRs being present in mitochondrial membranes, a recent report from Robert Friedlander and colleagues [1] follows on from previous work characterising synaptic and extrasynaptic mitochondria in human cortex (post-mortem samples) and their role…
Hot topic: Crystal structure of LPA6, a receptor for lysophosphatidic acid, at 3.2A
Lysophospholipids (LPs) have myriad roles as extracellular signals that activate cognate G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) (2). LPs for which receptors have been reported include lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) (receptors: LPA1-6), sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P1-5), lysophosphatidyl serine (LPS1-3, 2L (2L is a pseudogene…
Hot topic: FZD6 dimers dissociate after stimulation – briefly
GPCRs of all classes are widely thought to form homodimers, heterodimers and higher-order oligomers. The functional significance of dimerization is well understood for Class C receptors but less certain for the other GPCR classes, including the rather unconventional class F…
Database release 2017.5
The 5th IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY database release of 2017 includes updates to several target families, and new targets and ligands added, focusing on those relevant to immunopharmacology. We also announce a new organisation for ligand families and groups. This…
Hot topics: Agonist-bound crystal structures of the CB1 cannabinoid receptor
Antagonist bound crystal structures of GPCRs are useful in giving an insight into the molecular conformation of a receptor’s inactive state whilst enabling the design of new drugs. However, they prove insufficient to understand the activation mechanism of the receptor…
Hot topics: X-ray crystal of the apelin receptor
Activation of the apelin receptor by the peptides apelin or Elabela/Toddler mediates vasodilatation and positive inotropic effects in the adult cardiovascular system and knocking out the receptors results in failure of the heart to develop in developing embryos. To date,…
Hot topic: GPR3 and GPR6, novel molecular targets for cannabidiol
Cannabidiol is a major metabolite from the Cannabis plant, although levels vary dependent on genetic, regional, cultivation and other factors. It lacks the psychotropic nature of THC, but has been reported to have many biological effects, to the extent that…
Hot topic: Selectivity determinants of GPCR–G-protein binding
As a detailed comparative sequence/structure/evolution analysis it is relatively unusual (in a good sense) to see such a bioinformatics article in Nature. This tour de force was a collaboration between MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge UK and the Department…
Hot topics: Crystal structure of full-length glucagon receptor provides insight into relative orientation of extracellular and transmembrane domains in an inactive conformation and importance of dynamic changes in this orientation for activation
It has been quite challenging to gain high resolution structural insights into an intact class B G protein-coupled receptor, despite previous solution of multiple structures for the two dominant domains, the extracellular domain (ECD) and the transmembrane helical bundle domain…
Recent IUPHAR reviews on Ang(1-7) coupling with GPCRs, treating systemic autoimmune diseases, and small molecule modulators of adenylyl cyclases
The latest ‘state of the field’ IUPHAR reviews are out in the British Journal of Pharmacology: Karnik SS, Khuraijam D, Tirupula K, Unal H. (2017) Significance of Ang(1-7) coupling with MAS1 and other GPCRs to the Renin-Angiotensin System: IUPHAR Review…
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