Hirai Teruhisa, Subramaniam Sriram, Lanyi Janos K
Three-dimensional Microscopy Research Team, RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan.
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2009 Aug;19(4):433-9. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2009.07.009. Epub 2009 Jul 28.
Recent advances in crystallizing integral membrane proteins have led to atomic models for the structures of several seven-helix membrane proteins, including those in the G-protein-coupled receptor family. Further steps toward exploring structure-function relationships will undoubtedly involve determination of the structural changes that occur during the various stages of receptor activation and deactivation. We expect that these efforts will bear many parallels to the studies of conformational changes in bacteriorhodopsin, which still remains the best-studied seven-helix membrane protein. Here, we provide a brief review of some of the lessons learned, the challenges faced, and the controversies over the last decade with determining conformational changes in bacteriorhodopsin. Our hope is that this analysis will be instructive for similar structural studies, especially of other seven-helix membrane proteins, in the coming decade.
近期在整合膜蛋白结晶方面取得的进展，已产生了几种七螺旋膜蛋白结构的原子模型，包括那些属于G蛋白偶联受体家族的膜蛋白。在探索结构与功能关系方面的进一步进展无疑将涉及确定受体激活和失活各个阶段所发生的结构变化。我们预计，这些努力将与细菌视紫红质构象变化的研究有许多相似之处，细菌视紫红质仍是研究得最透彻的七螺旋膜蛋白。在此，我们简要回顾过去十年在确定细菌视紫红质构象变化方面所吸取的一些经验教训、面临的挑战以及存在的争议。我们希望这一分析对未来十年类似的结构研究，尤其是对其他七螺旋膜蛋白的研究具有指导意义。
