Transmembrane receptor Extracellular domain

Figure 13.1 The basic organization of a membrane receptor molecule consists of an extracellular domain, a transmembrane region, and an intracellular domain.

T-cell receptors (TCR) are heterodimeric transmembrane glycoproteins found exclusively in T cells, with extracellular domains that closely resemble antibody Fab structures. Each of the TCR a and p chains forms half of an extracellular antigen-binding domain, and in addition has one transmembrane... 

Ca2+ sensing receptor, a member of G-protein coupled receptors, is composed of seven transmembrane spanning domains. The extracellular domain contains clusters of negatively charged amino acids sensing even small fluctuations of extracellular calcium. Mutations in this receptor cause inheritable hypo- and hypercalcemic syndromes. 

Several nonconventional cadherins that contain cadherin repeats have been described but they have specific features not found in the classical cadherins [1]. The cadherin Flamingo, originally detected in Drosophila, contains seven transmembrane segments and in this respect resembles G protein-coupled receptors. The extracellular domain of Flamingo and its mammalian homologs is composed of cadherin repeats as well as EGF-like and laminin motifs. The seven transmembrane span cadherins have a role in homotypic cell interactions and in the establishment of cell polarity. The FAT-related cadherins are characterized by a large number of cadherin repeats (34 in FAT and 27 in dachsous). Their cytoplasmic domains can bind to catenins. T- (=truncated-)cadherin differs from other cadherins in that it has no transmembrane domain but is attached to the cell membrane via a glycosylpho-sphatidylinositol anchor. 

Frizzled (Fz) proteins comprise a family of seven-pass transmembrane receptors with a cysteine-rich extracellular domain. As a class, Fz proteins are structurally related to the superfamily ofheterotrimeric G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Diere are 4 Fz genes in Drosophila and 10 in humans, with close orthologs... 

Besides cytoplasmic protein kinases, membrane receptors can exert protein kinase activity. These so-called receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) contain a ligandbinding extracellular domain, a transmembrane motif, and an intracellular catalytic domain with specificity for tyrosine residues. Upon ligand binding and subsequent receptor oligomerization, the tyrosine residues of the intracellular domain become phosphory-lated by the intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity of the receptor [3, 4]. The phosphotyrosine residues ftmction as docking sites for other proteins that will transmit the signal received by the RTK. 

While the agonist binding domain is thought to be within the transmembrane domains for the monoamine and nucleotide receptors, neuropeptides are thought to bind close to the membrane surface on the extracellular domains of the receptor. It is still not clear whether non-peptide antagonists bind at the same or a different site on the receptor. 

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