Medical Physiology Commons^™

Point Substitutions In G Protein-Coupled Receptors, Jessica Brown

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are proteins that are important in physiological regulatory processes within the body, and for this reason are important drug targets. When bound to an agonist, such as neurotransmitters or hormones, the receptor adopts an active state to allow these biochemical pathways to occur. However, mutations can arise within the receptor that affect its ability to bind its agonist. This natural variation found within the genome can make it difficult to design pharmaceuticals to target the receptors.

To see the effects of these point substitutions on agonist-induced receptor activation, mutations were made within a negative allosteric site …