Nailing Down the Structure of the β_2 Adrenoreceptor

摘要

In 1986, Brian Kobilka, of Stanford University School of Medicine, was a member of the team that cloned the β_2-adrenergic receptor, a molecule that spans the cell membrane and that responds to the presence of adrenaline by triggering diverse components of the "fight or flight" response. More than 20 years later, he is one of the lead authors on two Top Ten papers that describe the detailed molecular structure of β_2AR, as the receptor is known. Getting from there to here required a succession of technical and conceptual breakthroughs that have paved the way to a far greater understanding of the most common family of trans-membrane signal receptors.