31 October 2026
Receptors are the essential molecular gatekeepers of life, governing the flow of information across biological membranes. While we introduce the receptor concept across its major structural classes, we focus thereafter on G-protein-coupled receptors...
Background/Objectives: AI-based protein–ligand co-folding methods such as Boltz-2 are able to reproduce experimentally determined ligand binding poses at G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) with increasing accuracy and precision. As these model...
Glutamate receptors constitute one of the most structurally diverse and functionally versatile families of signaling proteins in the animal kingdom, mediating the primary excitatory neurotransmission in the vertebrate central nervous system while als...
Background/Objectives: The hippocampus exhibits pronounced functional and physiological heterogeneity along its dorsoventral axis. Sharp wave–ripple (SWR) complexes are highly organized hippocampal network events that depend on coordinated exci...
GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) is the most abundant inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system of insects. GABAergic signal transduction is involved in the control and modulation of various vital functions such as salivation, locomot...
Background: Members of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (TNFRSF), including 4-1BB (CD137) and OX-40 (CD134), play central roles in regulating cytotoxic lymphocyte activation and anti-tumor immunity. In addition to their membrane-bound f...
The past decade has witnessed significant expansion in both preclinical and approved receptor-targeted therapeutic cell modalities. These include immune cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), and bispecific immune cell engager...
The renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) is a fundamental regulator of blood pressure, electrolyte balance, fluid homeostasis, and tissue remodeling. The discovery of the prorenin receptor (PRR), the protein encoded by the ATP6AP2...
The innate system’s recognition of non-self and danger signals is mediated by a limited number of germline-encoded pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Toll-like receptors (TLRs) ar...
Glucocorticoids are stress hormones released into circulation that play central roles in the immediate and slower adaptive responses of the brain and body to environmental and internal stimuli, whether perceived or imagined. Receptors for glucocortic...
NLRP6 is a member of the NOD-like receptor family that was initially characterized as an inflammasome-forming sensor in the intestine. However, accumulating evidence over the past decade has revealed that the functions of NLRP6 extend far beyond this...
Transsynaptic bridges are molecular complexes spanning the synaptic cleft that physically couple presynaptic release machinery to postsynaptic receptor fields. That this architecture is the direct target of autoimmune attack in myasthenia gravis and...
The dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) has long been considered a secondary target in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD), with therapeutic strategies primarily focused on D2 receptor–mediated motor control. However, accumulating evidence n...
Olfactory (or odorant) receptors (ORs) were initially characterized in 1991 by Drs. Richard Axel and Linda Buck, and subsequent additional efforts have contributed to our understanding of their canonical function in odorant identification in the nasa...
The mechanosensitive PIEZO family channels, PIEZO1 and PIEZO2, are essential for mechanotransduction and play roles in many cellular processes, including cell volume regulation, tissue development, touch sensation, and proprioception. Emerging eviden...
Immune checkpoint receptors (ICRs) play a pivotal role in modulating antitumor immunity and have become central targets in the immunotherapy of genitourinary (GU) malignancies. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental mechanis...
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic due to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiologic agent responsible for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although case numbers declined after the...
Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays a pivotal role in immune responses and tissue homeostasis. Its expression is strictly regulated by transcription factors including RORγt, and it is mainly produced by Th17 cells,...
Background: Endogenous opioids, such as endomorphin-2, are key regulators of the body’s pain pathways and mediate analgesia by engaging the
Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a genetic disorder characterized by chronic hemolysis, primarily driven by red blood cell lysis. Its pathophysiology is centered, though not exclusively, on the increased release of intracellular components, such as hemogl...
Melatonin is reported to exert two types of actions: those based on its interaction with cognate receptors (characterized by very high affinities—1 nM and below), and those mediated by unknown targets (characterized by high concentrations&mdash...
Nutrient-sensing nuclear receptors (NSNRs), including PPARs, FXR, LXRs, RAR/RXR, VDR, and related orphan receptors, integrate a molecular interface that allows diet to communicate directly with the genome. By binding fatty acids, bile acids, sterols,...
FAM3A, FAM3B, FAM3C and FAM3D are members of the “family with sequence similarity 3” (FAM3) gene family, an emerging class of cytokine-like proteins with a unique structural globular β-β-α fold and distinct biological func...
The vitamin D receptor (VDR) acts as both a nuclear transcription factor and a non-genomic mediator that regulates a broad spectrum of physiological processes beyond calcium and phosphate homeostasis. VDR plays an important role in the modulation of...
Sphingolipids, first discovered in 1874 by Johann Thudicum, are among the eight recognized classes of lipids and are present in essentially all plants, animals, and fungi, as well as some viruses and prokaryotes. In mammals, sphingolipids are enriche...
Progesterone (P4) regulates diverse reproductive processes across vertebrates through nuclear receptors; however, its mechanisms in squamate reptiles—particularly in viviparous species—remain poorly understood. In Squamata, P4 primarily a...
Background: Three-finger toxins (3FTxs) are a major axis of functional diversification in advanced snake venoms, with canonical paralytic activity mediated through muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and a broader set of non-nicoti...
Background: Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), a coronavirus (CoV) infecting pigs, uses its spike (S) glycoprotein to bind porcine aminopeptidase N (pAPN) for cell entry. Although structural studies have identified receptor-binding motifs (R...
Multipotent mesenchymal stromal stem cells have captivated the scientific community in recent years due to their ability to differentiate into multiple adult cell types. Central to this potential are many members of the nuclear hormone receptor super...
The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway regulates key cellular processes, such as proliferation, differentiation, and morphogenesis. Although its canonical activation involves ligand binding to PTCH1, which activates Smoothened (SMO), noncanonical featur...
Nuclear receptors (NRs) are ligand-activated transcription factors that mediate diverse cellular processes, including signalling, survival, proliferation, immune response and metabolism, through both genomic and non-genomic mechanisms in response to...
Astrocytes are increasingly recognized as active participants of synaptic communication, yet their role in the basal ganglia circuitry remains poorly defined. Emerging evidence indicates that astrocytes in this region express a diverse array of neuro...
Background: The insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF-2R), also known as the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor (CI-M6PR), is emerging as a critical receptor for brain function and disease. IGF-2R, in fact, plays a key role in long-...
Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid (TRPV) channels represent one of the seven subfamilies of TRP receptors and are widely expressed throughout the human body where they play pivotal roles in various physiological processes. In the gastrointestina...
Injury to tissue induces the normal wound healing process to repair damage. This is a normal and critical response developed by the body to maintain short-term organ function, and therefore, survival. Should this process become aberrant, then fibrosi...
Cannabinoids, compounds that interact with the endocannabinoid system, have shown promising neuroprotective effects in various neurodegenerative diseases, including those affecting the retina. This review evaluates evidence for the presence and actio...
Both primary and secondary hemostasis consist of finely regulated pathways, forming a blood clot to stop bleeding. These orchestrated mechanisms involve multiple plasma- and platelet/endothelial-derived receptors, factors, enzymes, and proteins, such...
Background: PIEZO channels are mechanoreceptors expressed in various cells. Their contributions to animal development are not entirely clear. According to the physical distortion hypothesis, developmental organizers for butterfly wing eyespots receiv...
Adipocyte cell models are essential for investigating adipogenesis, yet methodological inconsistencies pose challenges to obtaining reproducible and physiologically relevant results. Murine cell lines, such as 3T3-L1 and OP9, are commonly utilized du...
Background: HER1 and HER2 are critical receptors involved in tumorigenesis and the development of targeted therapies for various carcinomas. However, most antibodies and drugs currently in development do not recognize murine orthologs, which restrict...
Background/Objectives: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) can promote ligand-biased signaling, yet the mechanisms that promote bias are not well understood. We have shown that C-C Chemokine Ligand 19 (CCL19) and CCL21 promote ligand-biased internali...
Mutations in hormone receptors significantly influence infertility and the outcomes of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). This review explores the functional interplay among mutations in FSHR, LHCGR, AR, ESR1, and ESR2 hormone receptors and th...
Boron-containing compounds (BCCs) have emerged as potential drugs. Their drug-like effects are mainly explained by their mechanisms of action in enzymes. Nowadays, some experimental data support the effects of specific BCCs on GPCRs, provided there a...
Dictyostelium discoideum (Dicty) is a type of unicellular amoeba, but when starved, a large number of amoebas gather together to form a multicellular organism. In this review, we first introduce our cellular dynamics method for Dicty, including intra...
Skeletal muscle aging, or sarcopenia, involves progressive muscle mass and function loss, which limits mobility and independence in elderly populations. This decline is driven by chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance, all of...
Background: The development of cerebral organoids created from human pluripotent stem cells in 3D culture may greatly improve the discovery of neuropsychiatric medicines. Methods: In the current study we differentiated neural organoids from a human p...
Odorant receptors (ORs) constitute the largest family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), with nearly 400 receptors identified in humans. The “omics” era has revealed an unexpected expression of ORs beyond olfactory tissues. For many...
Background/Objectives: Gelsolin (GSN) is an actin-binding protein that helps maintain neuronal structure and shape, regulates neuronal growth, and apoptosis. Our previous work demonstrated that GSN associated with estrogen receptor beta (ERβ1) i...
Bioelectric membrane potentials regulate cellular growth, differentiation, and movement. Disruptions in bioelectric signaling are strongly linked to cancer development, as abnormal membrane potentials and ion channel activity can drive tumor progress...
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive tumor among breast cancer subtypes with much lower overall survival at metastasis compared to other subtypes and with limited treatment options due to a lack of targeted therapies. This has led to...
