Quantifying the allosteric interactions within a G-protein-coupled receptor heterodimer
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Updated: Feb 25, 2026

Quantifying Agonist Activity at G Protein-coupled Receptors
Published on: December 26, 2011
1Institut de Neurociències and Unitat de Bioestadística, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
Abstract:
G-protein-coupled receptors are central to signal transduction and cell communication. The possibility that cells use receptor heteromerization to modulate individual receptor pathways is a surmise that cannot be precluded. Given the complexity of these processes, mathematical models contribute to understanding how receptors and their respective ligands regulate signaling. Here, a mathematical model is presented that quantifies the allosteric interactions within a receptor heterodimer. The model is based on the operational model of allosterism including constitutive receptor activity, which provides the pharmacological analysis of heteromerization with well-established and widely used modeling and fitting procedures.
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