Journal
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
Volume 16, Issue 5, Pages 507-+Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41589-020-0492-2
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology
- Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences
- School of Medicine, Tsinghua University
- Ministry of Science and Technology of China [2016YFA0501100]
- DFG [GRK 1910]
- Erlangen Regional Computing Center (RRZE)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The alpha(2) adrenergic receptors (alpha(2)ARs) are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that respond to adrenaline and noradrenaline and couple to the Gi/o family of G proteins. alpha(2)ARs play important roles in regulating the sympathetic nervous system. Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective alpha(2)AR agonist used in post-operative patients as an anxiety-reducing, sedative medicine that decreases the requirement for opioids. As is typical for selective alpha AR agonists, dexmedetomidine consists of an imidazole ring and a substituted benzene moiety lacking polar groups, which is in contrast to beta AR-selective agonists, which share an ethanolamine group and an aromatic system with polar, hydrogen-bonding substituents. To better understand the structural basis for the selectivity and efficacy of adrenergic agonists, we determined the structure of the alpha(2B)AR in complex with dexmedetomidine and Go at a resolution of 2.9 angstrom by single-particle cryo-EM. The structure reveals the mechanism of alpha(2)AR-selective activation and provides insights into Gi/o coupling specificity.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available