Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

High-resolution Spatiotemporal Analysis of Receptor Dynamics by Single-molecule Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: July 25, 2014
A simple mathematical model of cooperativity in receptor mosaics based on the "symmetry rule"
Luigi F Agnati1, Alexander O Tarakanov, Diego Guidolin
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena, Modena, Italy.
Abstract:
The phenomenon of receptor-receptor interactions was hypothesized about 20 years ago. It has been demonstrated by now that receptor-receptor interactions between G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) occur at plasma membrane level and result in the reciprocal modulation of their binding characteristics (i.e., cooperativity). One of the most important feature of this phenomenon is the concept of cluster of receptors, or receptor mosaic (RM). However, no proper mathematical approach has still been available to characterize RMs as far as their receptor composition, receptor topography and order of receptor activation inside the RM. This paper tries to fill the gap. A simple mathematical approach to the cooperativity in RMs formed by dimers of identical receptors and/or by iso-receptors is proposed. To this aim the so-called "symmetry rule" has been considered. This approach allows to describe by means of a simple energy function the effects of receptor composition (number of dimers), spatial organisation (respective location of the dimers) and order of activation (order according to which the single receptors are ligated) on the integrative cooperativity (index) of the RMs.
Related Concept Videos
Cooperative Allosteric Transitions
Cooperative Allosteric Transitions
Cooperative Allosteric Transitions
The Two-State Receptor Model
The binding affinity of a drug determines its interaction with one...
Woodward–Hoffmann Selection Rules and Microscopic Reversibility
Quantitative Aspects of Drug-Receptor Interaction

