G-Protein Coupled Receptor Dimerization

A growing body of evidence suggests that GPCRs exist and function as dimers or higher oligomers. The evidence for GPCR dimerization comes from biochemical, biophysical and functional studies. In addition, researchers have shown the occurrence of heterodimerization between different members of the GPCR family. Two receptors can interact with each other to make a dimer through their extracellular loops, transmembrane helices and intracellular loops. The nature of bonds between two receptors can vary from covalent (e.g. disulphide bonds) to non-covalent (for instance hydrophobic interactions between trans-membrane helices or coiled coil structures) or a combination of both. Dimerization can occur in and affect different stages of a receptor's life, namely trafficking, signaling and internalization, and can be seen as the natural way to regulate receptor activity or increase the functional repertoire of proteins. Different structures for GPCR dimers have been proposed, for example a simple contact dimer or an interlocking domain-swapped structure. Here we introduce some of the information available on GPCR dimerization, which includes early studies that had been dismissed until the relatively recent past and some of the more recent data which has vindicated these early studies.