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Adrenergic Receptors
Exploring the Structure
To solve the structure of the adrenergic receptor, researchers had to do some unusual things. Since it is normally buried in a cell membrane, it is difficult to crystallize in purified form. Two groups took two different approaches. In one case, shown on the left from PDB 2rh1, the protein was engineered to insert lysozyme in the middle of the chain. The fused protein chain folds normally, with the lysozyme portion hanging off the bottom of the receptor. In the other case, shown on the right from PDB entry 2r4r, an antibody was discovered that binds to the receptor, and the complex of receptor with antibody was crystallized. In both cases, the extra protein -- lysozyme or antibody -- helped create the many protein-protein contacts needed for a stable crystal.
These pictures were created with RasMol. To create similar pictures, you can click on the accession codes here and pick one of the options under Images and Visualization. To see the scientific papers used to research this Molecule of the Month, click here. Also available are related entries in the PDB as determined by a keyword search on March 25, 2008 for adrenergic receptor.
Last changed by: A.Honegger,