Tecniques: recent developments in computer aided engineering of GPCR ligands using the human A3 adenosine receptor as an example.

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the largest known family of signal-transducing molecules, and convey signals for light and many extracellular regulatory molecules. GPCRs are dysfunctional or dysregulated in several human diseases and are estimated to be the targets of O40% of the drugs used in clinical medicine today. The crystal structure of rhodopsin provides the first information on the three-dimensional structure of GPCRs, which now supports homology modeling studies and structure-based drug-design approaches.