title: Structural features of the G-protein/GPCR interactions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The details of the functional interaction between G proteins and the G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) have long been subjected to extensive investigations with structural and functional assays and a large number of computational studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  The nature and sites of interaction in the G-protein/GPCR complexes, and the specificities of these interactions selecting coupling partners among the large number of families of GPCRs and G protein forms, are still poorly defined.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many of the contact sites between the two proteins in specific complexes have been identified, but the three dimensional molecular architecture of a receptor-Gα interface is only known for one pair. Consequently, many fundamental questions regarding this macromolecular assembly and its mechanism remain unanswered.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the context of current structural data we review the structural details of the interfaces and recognition sites in complexes of sub-family A GPCRs with cognate G-proteins, with special emphasis on the consequences of activation on GPCR structure, the prevalence of preassembled GPCR/G-protein complexes, the key structural determinants for selective coupling and the possible involvement of GPCR oligomerization in this process.
authors.affiliation: REQUIMTE/Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: irina.moreira@fc.up.pt.
authors.forename: Irina S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Moreira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins
keywords: Coupling determinant; G protein coupled receptor/G-protein coupling; Oligomerization; Specificity