title: The guanylyl cyclase receptor family.
abstract: Cyclic GMP (cGMP) signals through protein kinases, ion channels, and possibly other effector systems as a second messenger. Its synthesis is regulated by guanylyl cyclase, whose activity is found in various cellular compartments including the plasma membrane and cytosol. A soluble form of guanylyl cyclase, which occurs as a heterodimer, appears to serve as a receptor for nitric oxide or nitrosothiols, or both. Recent research suggests the presence of multiple subtypes of the soluble form of guanylyl cyclase and tissue-specific expression of the different forms. At least two different forms of the plasma membrane guanylyl cyclase are known to occur in various mammalian tissues. One form, GC-A, is a receptor for atrial natriuretic peptide, and the binding of ligand causes marked increases in cGMP production. The other form, GC-B, is stimulated more effectively by a brain natriuretic peptide than by atrial natriuretic peptide, but its natural ligand remains in question. Both plasma membrane forms of the enzyme contain a single, putative transmembrane domain. The intracellular region of both forms contains a protein kinase-like domain just within the transmembrane domain. The protein kinase-like domain is followed by a cyclase catalytic region near the carboxyl terminus that is homologous to two internally homologous domains found in a bovine brain adenylyl cyclase. The possibility that other guanylyl cyclase receptor subtypes exist is now being explored. If they do, we may subsequently find that a diversity of specific ligands signals through cGMP.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Garbers
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000201:enzymology; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000378:metabolism*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000201:enzymology; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017461:Receptors, Atrial Natriuretic Factor; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase; D017461:Receptors, Atrial Natriuretic Factor; D006152:Cyclic GMP