scholarly journals Nanobody stabilization of G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) for activated structure determination

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 179-179
Author(s):  
Radostin Danev ◽  
Matthew Belousoff ◽  
Yi-Lynn Liang ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Denise Wootten ◽  
...  

AbstractCryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) experienced game-changing hardware and software advances about a decade ago. Since then, there have been gradual and steady improvements in experimental and data analysis methods. Nonetheless, structural analysis of nonsymmetric membrane proteins, such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), remains challenging. Their relatively low molecular weight and obstruction by the micelle/nanodisc result in marginal signal levels, which combined with the intrinsic flexibility of such complexes creates difficult structural study scenarios. Pushing the performance limits of cryo-EM requires careful optimization of all experimental aspects. To this end, it is necessary to build quantitative knowledge of the effect each parameter has on the outcome. Here, we present in-depth analysis of the influence of the main cryo-EM experimental factors on the performance for GPCR structure determination. We used a tandem experiment approach that combined real-world structural studies with parameter testing. We quantified the effects of using a Volta phase plate, zero-loss energy filtering, objective lens aperture, defocus magnitude, total exposure, and grid type. Through such systematic optimization of the experimental conditions, it has been possible to routinely determine class B1 GPCR structures at resolutions better than 2.5 Å. The improved fidelity of such maps helps to build higher confidence atomic models and will be crucial for the future expansion of cryo-EM into the structure-based drug design domain. The optimization guidelines drafted here are not limited to GPCRs and can be applied directly for the study of other challenging membrane protein targets.


2001 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1203-1207 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Ciarkowski ◽  
P Drabik ◽  
A Giełdoń ◽  
R Kaźmierkiewicz ◽  
R Slusarz

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) transducing diverse external signals to cells via activation of heterotrimeric GTP-binding (G) proteins, estimated to mediate actions of 60% of drugs, had been resistant to structure determination until summer 2000. The first atomic-resolution experimental structure of a GPCR, that of dark (inactive) rhodopsin, thus provides a trustworthy 3D prototype for antagonist-bound forms of this huge family of proteins. In this work, our former theoretical GPCR models are evaluated against the new experimental template. Subsequently, a working hypothesis regarding the signal transduction mechanism by GPCRs is presented.


2018 ◽  
pp. 301-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Stauch ◽  
Linda Johansson ◽  
Andrii Ishchenko ◽  
Gye Won Han ◽  
Alexander Batyuk ◽  
...  

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