These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.
Pubmed for Handhelds
PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS
Search MEDLINE/PubMed
Title: Beta-arrestin-biased ligands at seven-transmembrane receptors. Author: Violin JD, Lefkowitz RJ. Journal: Trends Pharmacol Sci; 2007 Aug; 28(8):416-22. PubMed ID: 17644195. Abstract: Seven-transmembrane receptors (7TMRs), the most common molecular targets of modern drug therapy, are critically regulated by beta-arrestins, which both inhibit classic G-protein signaling and initiate distinct beta-arrestin signaling. The interplay of G-protein and beta-arrestin signals largely determines the cellular consequences of 7TMR-targeted drugs. Until recently, a drug's efficacy for beta-arrestin recruitment was believed to be proportional to its efficacy for G-protein activities. This paradigm restricts 7TMR drug effects to a linear spectrum of responses, ranging from inhibition of all responses to stimulation of all responses. However, it is now clear that 'biased ligands' can selectively activate G-protein or beta-arrestin functions and thus elicit novel biological effects from even well-studied 7TMRs. Here, we discuss the current state of beta-arrestin-biased ligand research and the prospects for beta-arrestin bias as a therapeutic target. Consideration of ligand bias might have profound influences on the way scientists approach 7TMR-targeted drug discovery.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]