NMR Studies on a Double Transmembrane-Containing Fragment of a G Protein-Coupled Receptor

摘要

Integral membrane proteins (IMPs) are essential for cell signaling, cell proliferation, and cell death. These membrane proteins propagate extracellular signals to the intracellular matrix, generally starting a cascade of events to trigger a response. Unfortunately, structural analysis of IMPs, in particular of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), is hindered by difficulties in crystallization and by size limitations in NMR spectroscopy. GPCRs contain 7 transmembrane domain regions (TM) regions as well as connecting loops and N- and C-terminal regions and these large hydrophobic proteins need a membrane-like environment for proper structure formation. Studying smaller fragments of these GPCRs may be a useful tool in the determination of overall receptor folding and structure.