Membrane-Mediated Oligomerization of G Protein Coupled Receptors and Its Implications for GPCR Function

The dimerization or even oligomerization of G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) causes ongoing, controversial debates about its functional role and the coupled biophysical, biochemical or biomedical implications. A continously growing number of studies hints to a relation between oligomerization and function of GPCRs and strengthens the assumption that receptor assembly plays a key role in the regulation of protein function. Additionally, progress in the structural analysis of GPCR-G protein and GPCR-ligand interactions allows to distinguish between actively functional and non-signaling complexes. Recent findings further suggest that the surrounding membrane, i.e., its lipid composition may modulate the preferred dimerization interface and as a result the abundance of distinct dimeric conformations. In this review, the association of GPCRs and the role of the membrane in oligomerization will be discussed. An overview of the different reported oligomeric interfaces is provided and their capability for signaling discussed. The currently available data is summarized with regard to the formation of GPCR oligomers, their structures and dependency on the membrane microenvironment as well as the coupling of oligomerization to receptor function.

• Publication year

  2016

• Venue

  Frontiers in Physiology

• Publication date

  2016-10-25

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Chemistry

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3389/fphys.2016.00494PMID 27826255PMCID 5078798
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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