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Principles and Design of Molecular Tools for Sensing and Perturbing Cell Surface Receptor Activity
Jennifer Sescil1,2, Steven M Havens1,2, Wenjing Wang1,2,3,4
1Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States.
Chemical Reviews
|February 25, 2025
Summary
Molecular tools help visualize, sense, and perturb cell-surface receptors, crucial for understanding cellular processes and diseases. These methods advance receptor biology and therapeutic development.
Area of Science:
- Molecular biology
- Cell biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Cell-surface receptors regulate critical cellular functions.
- Dysregulation of these receptors is implicated in various diseases.
- Understanding receptor signaling is essential for disease treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review molecular approaches for studying cell-surface receptors.
- To highlight tools for receptor visualization, activation sensing, and activity perturbation.
- To demonstrate the utility of these tools in advancing receptor biology and therapeutics.
Main Methods:
- Describing molecular visualization techniques for receptor localization and distribution.
- Detailing methods for sensing receptor activation (permanent and real-time readouts).
- Explaining approaches to perturb receptor activity and mimic receptor-controlled processes.
Main Results:
- These molecular tools provide insights into fundamental receptor biology.
- The described methods aid in characterizing therapeutics targeting cell-surface receptors.
- Visualization, sensing, and perturbation tools offer comprehensive analysis of receptor function.
Conclusions:
- Advanced molecular tools are indispensable for studying cell-surface receptors.
- These techniques enhance our understanding of receptor signaling pathways.
- The development and application of these tools accelerate the characterization of receptor-targeted therapies.
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