Over-expression, solubilization, and purification of G protein-coupled receptors for structural biology.

With the advent of the recent determination of high-resolution crystal structures of bovine rhodopsin and human beta2 adrenergic receptor (beta2AR), there are still many structure-function relationships to be learned from other G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Many of the pharmaceutically interesting GPCRs cannot be modeled because of their amino acid sequence divergence from bovine rhodopsin and beta2AR. Structure determination of GPCRs can provide new avenues for engineering drugs with greater potency and higher specificity.