title: Structures of the First Extracellular Domain of CRF Receptors.
abstract: Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) receptors belong to the secretin family of G proteincoupled receptors (GPCRs) and are responsible for initiating endocrine stress responses and mediating anxiety related behaviors upon activation via stressors. The main binding site for the CRF ligands is the first extracellular domain (ECD) of the receptors. Several structures of ligand-free and ligand-bound ECDs were recently determined either by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy or X-ray crystallography. They reveal how the ligands bind through both hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions to the ECDs, which is highly dynamic in the absence of ligands. It is the purpose of this review to discuss these structures with a particular focus on ligand-receptor interaction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zurich. Switzerland.
authors.forename: Viviane
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zelenay
authors.affiliation: Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037. United States.
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zurich. Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Riek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D008958:Models, Molecular; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D011485:Protein Binding; D000072417:Protein Domains; D018019:Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D018019:Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
keywords: CRF receptors; ECD; GPCR; first extracellular domain; ligand binding; structure