A Chemical Biological Approach to Study G Protein-Coupled Receptors: Labeling the Adenosine A1 Receptor Using an Electrophilic Covalent Probe

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been known for decades as attractive drug targets. This has led to the development and approval of many ligands targeting GPCRs. Although ligand binding effects have been studied thoroughly for many GPCRs, there are multiple aspects of GPCR signaling that remain poorly understood. The reasons for this are the difficulties that are encountered upon studying GPCRs, for example, a poor solubility and low expression levels. In this work, we have managed to overcome some of these issues by developing an affinity-based probe for a prototypic GPCR, the adenosine A(1) receptor (A(1)AR). Here, we show the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of this probe in various biochemical assays, such as SDS-PAGE, confocal microscopy, and chemical proteomics.

Automated summary

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have long been recognized as attractive drug targets, but many aspects of GPCR signaling remain poorly understood due to the difficulties encountered in studying them. In this study, we have developed an affinity-based probe for a prototype GPCR, the adenosine A(1) receptor (A(1)AR), and conducted various biochemical assays to evaluate its efficacy.