Sandbox reserved 1169: Difference between revisions

The neurotensin receptor (NTSR1) belongs to the superfamily of proteins known as [http://proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/G_protein-coupled_receptor G protein-coupled receptors] (GPCRs) and responds to the 13 amino acid hormone [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotensin neurotensin (NTS)]. There are currently around 800 G protein-coupled receptors that have been identified and are thought to be responsible for roughly 80% of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_transduction signal transduction] across the cell membrane.<ref name="Millar">PMID:20019124</ref>  These receptors are involved in a vast array of physiological processes within the body that range from interactions with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine dopamine] to effects on secretion of bile in the intestines.<ref name="Gui">PMID:11208724</ref> <ref name="Binder">PMID:1173461</ref> Due to the vast array of functions that these proteins serve and their high abundance within the body, these proteins have become a major site of drug targets in medicine making a deeper, more in depth understanding of these proteins very important. <ref name="Fang">PMID:23573662</ref> There are currently no NTRS1 structures of the inactive state, so there is no way to determine the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformational_change conformational change] of the binding pocket caused by the binding of NTS. <ref name="White">PMID:23051748</ref>

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotensin Neurotensin (NTS)] is a 13-amino acid peptide originally isolated from [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bovinae&redirect=no bovine] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothalamus hypothalamus]. It fulfills the role of both a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotransmitter neurotransmitter] and a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromodulation neuromodulator] in the nervous system and a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormone hormone] in the periphery. NTS is a neuromodulator of dopamine transmission and of anterior [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituitary_gland pituitary] hormone secretion. It is also a [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paracrine_signalling&redirect=no paracrine] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_system endocrine] modulator in the periphery of the digestive tract and cardiovascular system. Finally, NTS serves as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_factor growth factor] for many normal and cancerous cell types.<ref name="Vincent">PMID:10390649</ref>

Only the C-terminal tail of NTS, amino acids 8-13, were resolved in the <scene name='72/721539/Nts8_13/1'>crystal structure</scene>.(PDB code:[http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/explore.do?structureId=4GRV 4GRV)]