Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Imaging G-protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR)-mediated Signaling Events that Control Chemotaxis of Dictyostelium Discoideum
Published on: September 20, 2011
A concept for G protein activation by G protein-coupled receptor dimers: the transducin/rhodopsin interface
Slawomir Filipek1, Krystiana A Krzysko, Dimitrios Fotiadis
1International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Warsaw, PL-02109, Poland.
Abstract:
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are ubiquitous and essential in modulating virtually all physiological processes. These receptors share a similar structural design consisting of the seven-transmembrane alpha-helical segments. The active conformations of the receptors are stabilized by an agonist and couple to structurally highly conserved heterotrimeric G proteins. One of the most important unanswered questions is how GPCRs couple to their cognate G proteins. Phototransduction represents an excellent model system for understanding G protein signaling, owing to the high expression of rhodopsin in rod photoreceptors and the multidisciplinary experimental approaches used to study this GPCR. Here, we describe how a G protein (transducin) docks on to an oligomeric GPCR (rhodopsin), revealing structural details of this critical interface in the signal transduction process. This conceptual model takes into account recent structural information on the receptor and G protein, as well as oligomeric states of GPCRs.
Related Concept Videos
G-protein Coupled Receptors
Assembly of Signaling Complexes
Interaction domains in cell signaling
Interaction domains recognize exposed features of their binding partners containing post-translationally modified sequences,...
G Protein-coupled Receptors
GPCRs are also called heptahelical, 7TM, or serpentine receptors, and consist of seven (H1-H7) transmembrane alpha-helices that span the bilayer to form a cylindrical core. The transmembrane helices are connected by three extracellular loops and three...
Activation and Inactivation of G Proteins
G-Protein Gated Ion Channels
Sensory organs,...
Transducer Mechanism: G Protein–Coupled Receptors
GPCRs are also called heptahelical, 7TM, or...

