title: Constitutive activity and inverse agonism at the alpha1adrenoceptors.
abstract: Mutations of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) can increase their constitutive (agonist-independent) activity. Some of these mutations have been artificially introduced by site-directed mutagenesis, others occur spontaneously in human diseases. The alpha(1B)adrenoceptor was the first GPCR in which point mutations were shown to trigger receptor activation. This article briefly summarizes some of the findings reported in the last several years on constitutive activity of the alpha(1)adrenoceptor subtypes, the location where mutations have been found in the receptors, the spontaneous activity of native receptors in recombinant as well as physiological systems. In addition, it will highlight how the analysis of the pharmacological and molecular properties of the constitutively active adrenoceptor mutants provided an important contribution to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the mechanism of receptor activation and inverse agonism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Lausanne, Rue du Bugnon 27, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. Susanna.Cotecchia@unil.ch
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cotecchia
mesh_terms: D058668:Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists; D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006224:Cricetinae; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D018340:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D058668:Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists; D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; D018340:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins