Complex information processing by the transmembrane signaling system involving G proteins.
Much of the information cells receive is transduced by a membranous signaling system that uses heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide binding proteins (G proteins) to functionally couple cell surface receptors to a variety of effectors. During recent years it has been shown that receptors, G protein alpha, beta and gamma subunits as well as effectors involved in this signaling system exhibit a remarkable structural diversity and that the interactions of these components display a bewildering complexity. Even though many questions remain to be answered, it is becoming obvious that G proteins form the basis of a complex membranous signaling network which allows the cell to coordinate and to process incoming signals already on the level of the plasma membrane.
Offermanns
S
S
Institut für Pharmakologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
Schultz
G
G
D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins