Jones RD. Information Transmission in G Protein-Coupled Receptors.
Int J Mol Sci 2024;
25:1621. [PMID:
38338905 PMCID:
PMC10855935 DOI:
10.3390/ijms25031621]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest class of receptors in the human genome and constitute about 30% of all drug targets. In this article, intended for a non-mathematical audience, both experimental observations and new theoretical results are compared in the context of information transmission across the cell membrane. The amount of information actually currently used or projected to be used in clinical settings is a small fraction of the information transmission capacity of the GPCR. This indicates that the number of yet undiscovered drug targets within GPCRs is much larger than what is currently known. Theoretical studies with some experimental validation indicate that localized heat deposition and dissipation are key to the identification of sites and mechanisms for drug action.
Collapse