G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are one of the largest protein families in humans. They serve as signalling mediators of extracellular stimuli (e.g. small molecules, peptides or proteins) to intracellular signals. Due to their abundance and important role in physiology, GPCRs are involved in many pathophysiological processes and serve as targets for the treatment of many diseases and also cancers. Hence, understanding these receptors and the pharmacology is of high interest.
This project will be focusing on members of one subfamily of GPCRs, the class F GPCRs. Using different molecular modelling tools we hope to elucidate relevant dynamics of the receptors to understand their complex signalling behaviour. Furthermore, we plan to analyse receptor interactions with downstream effectors as well as small molecule compounds. These computationally derived predictions will later be confirmed using cell-based in vitro assays. Any new insights from this will contribute to understanding the complex signalling of Class F GPCRs.