Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Visualizing the Conformational Dynamics of Membrane Receptors Using Single-Molecule FRET
Published on: August 17, 2022
Biosynthesis and NMR-studies of a double transmembrane domain from the Y4 receptor, a human GPCR
Chao Zou1, Fred Naider, Oliver Zerbe
1Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
The human Y4 receptor, a class A G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) primarily targeted by the pancreatic polypeptide (PP), is involved in a large number of physiologically important functions. This paper investigates a Y4 receptor fragment (N-TM1-TM2) comprising the N-terminal domain, the first two transmembrane (TM) helices and the first extracellular loop followed by a (His)(6) tag, and addresses synthetic problems encountered when recombinantly producing such fragments from GPCRs in Escherichia coli. Rigorous purification and usage of the optimized detergent mixture 28 mM dodecylphosphocholine (DPC)/118 mM% 1-palmitoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-[phospho-rac-(1-glycerol)] (LPPG) resulted in high quality TROSY spectra indicating protein conformational homogeneity. Almost complete assignment of the backbone, including all TM residue resonances was obtained. Data on internal backbone dynamics revealed a high secondary structure content for N-TM1-TM2. Secondary chemical shifts and sequential amide proton nuclear Overhauser effects defined the TM helices. Interestingly, the properties of the N-terminal domain of this large fragment are highly similar to those determined on the isolated N-terminal domain in the presence of DPC micelles.
More Related Videos
14:02Optimizing the Genetic Incorporation of Chemical Probes into GPCRs for Photo-crosslinking Mapping and Bioorthogonal Chemistry in Live Mammalian Cells
Published on: April 9, 2018
15:13High-resolution Spatiotemporal Analysis of Receptor Dynamics by Single-molecule Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: July 25, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Transducer Mechanism: G Protein–Coupled Receptors
GPCRs are also called heptahelical, 7TM, or...
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...
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...
G-protein Coupled Receptors
G-protein Coupled Receptors
GPCRs Regulate Adenylyl Cylase Activity
Two...