Rules and mechanisms governing G protein coupling selectivity of GPCRs

Abstract

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) convert extracellular stimuli into intracellular signaling by coupling to heterotrimeric G proteins of four classes: G i/o , G q , G s , and G 12/13 . However, our understanding of the G protein selectivity of GPCRs is incomplete. Here, we quantitatively measure the enzymatic activity of GPCRs in living cells and reveal the G protein selectivity of 124 GPCRs with the exact rank order of their G protein preference. Using this information, we establish a classification of GPCRs by functional selectivity, discover the existence of a G 12/13 -coupled receptor, G 15 -coupled receptors, and a variety of subclasses for G i/o -, G q -, and G s -coupled receptors, culminating in development of the predictive algorithm of G protein selectivity. We further identify the structural determinants of G protein selectivity, allowing us to synthesize non-existent GPCRs with de novo G protein selectivity and efficiently identify putative pathogenic variants.