Structural basis of ligand recognition and self-activation of orphan GPR52

Journal:
Nature
Published:
DOI:
10.1038/s41586-020-2019-0
Affiliations:
14
Authors:
16
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Research Highlight

Structure sheds light on a protein receptor

© CHRISTOPH BURGSTEDT/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty

The determination of the three-dimensional structure of a protein receptor implicated in psychiatric disorders will help efforts to develop drugs to treat those disorders.

Cells detect changes in their chemical environment via proteins on their surfaces known as receptors. G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are largest family of such receptors, with more than 800 of them known in humans. Many commercial drugs act by binding to GPCRs.

Now, a team led by researchers from ShanghaiTech University has determined for the first time the three-dimensional structure of GPR52, a GPCR that is highly expressed in the brain and that has been implicated in Huntington’s disease and other psychiatric disorders.

This structural knowledge is all the more valuable because GPR52 is an orphan GPCR, meaning that the natural occurring molecules that activate it by binding to it have yet to be identified.

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References

  1. Nature 579, 152–157 (2020) doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2019-0
Institutions Authors Share
ShanghaiTech University, China
6.000000
 0.38
Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, SJTU, China
2.333333
 0.15
Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (IBCB), SIBS CAS, China
1.500000
 0.09
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China
1.500000
 0.09
Soochow University, China
1.000000
 0.06
University of Southern California (USC), United States of America (USA)
1.000000
 0.06
Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), CAS, China
0.833333
 0.05
National Center for Drug Screening, China
0.833333
 0.05
Xinhua Hospital, SJTU, China
0.333333
 0.02
Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China
0.333333
 0.02
CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, SIBS CAS, China
0.333333
 0.02