Volume 1276, Issue 1 p. 1-25

Dissecting signaling and functions of adhesion G protein–coupled receptors

Demet Araç

Demet Araç

Stanford University, Stanford, California

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Gabriela Aust

Gabriela Aust

Department of Surgery, Research Laboratories, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

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Davide Calebiro

Davide Calebiro

Institute of Pharmacology and Rudolf Virchow Center, DFG-Research Center for Experimental Biomedicine, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

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Felix B. Engel

Felix B. Engel

Department of Cardiac Development and Remodelling, Max-Planck-Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany, and Laboratory of Experimental Renal and Cardiovascular Research, Department of Nephropathology, Institute of Pathology, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

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Caroline Formstone

Caroline Formstone

MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, New Hunts House, London, United Kingdom

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André Goffinet

André Goffinet

Université Catholique de Louvain, Institute of Neuroscience, Developmental Neurobiology, Brussels, Belgium

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Jörg Hamann

Jörg Hamann

Department of Experimental Immunology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Robert J. Kittel

Robert J. Kittel

Institute of Physiology, Department of Neurophysiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

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Ines Liebscher

Ines Liebscher

Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Biochemistry, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

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Hsi-Hsien Lin

Hsi-Hsien Lin

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan

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Kelly R. Monk

Kelly R. Monk

Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

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Alexander Petrenko

Alexander Petrenko

Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia

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Xianhua Piao

Xianhua Piao

Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

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Simone Prömel

Simone Prömel

Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Biochemistry, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

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Helgi B. Schiöth

Helgi B. Schiöth

Department of Neuroscience, Functional Pharmacology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

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Thue W. Schwartz

Thue W. Schwartz

Laboratory for Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

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Martin Stacey

Martin Stacey

Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

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Yuri A. Ushkaryov

Yuri A. Ushkaryov

Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, and Medway School of Pharmacy, University of Kent, Chatham, United Kingdom

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Manja Wobus

Manja Wobus

Medical Clinic and Policlinic I, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany

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Uwe Wolfrum

Uwe Wolfrum

Cell and Matrix Biology, Institute of Zoology, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany

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Lei Xu

Lei Xu

University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York

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Tobias Langenhan

Tobias Langenhan

Institute of Physiology, Department of Neurophysiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

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First published: 07 December 2012
Citations: 34
Tobias Langenhan, Institute of Physiology, Department of Neurophysiology, University of Würzburg, Röntgenring 9, 97070 Würzburg, Germany. [email protected].

Abstract

G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprise an expanded superfamily of receptors in the human genome. Adhesion class G protein–coupled receptors (adhesion-GPCRs) form the second largest class of GPCRs. Despite the abundance, size, molecular structure, and functions in facilitating cell and matrix contacts in a variety of organ systems, adhesion-GPCRs are by far the most poorly understood GPCR class. Adhesion-GPCRs possess a unique molecular structure, with extended N-termini containing various adhesion domains. In addition, many adhesion-GPCRs are autoproteolytically cleaved into an N-terminal fragment (NTF, NT, α-subunit) and C-terminal fragment (CTF, CT, β-subunit) at a conserved GPCR autoproteolysis–inducing (GAIN) domain that contains a GPCR proteolysis site (GPS). These two features distinguish adhesion-GPCRs from other GPCR classes. Though active research on adhesion-GPCRs in diverse areas, such as immunity, neuroscience, and development and tumor biology has been intensified in the recent years, the general biological and pharmacological properties of adhesion-GPCRs are not well known, and they have not yet been used for biomedical purposes. The “6th International Adhesion-GPCR Workshop,” held at the Institute of Physiology of the University of Würzburg on September 6–8, 2012, assembled a majority of the investigators currently actively pursuing research on adhesion-GPCRs, including scientists from laboratories in Europe, the United States, and Asia. The meeting featured the nascent mechanistic understanding of the molecular events driving the signal transduction of adhesion-GPCRs, novel models to evaluate their functions, and evidence for their involvement in human disease.