2014 Volume 83 Issue 1 Pages 18-25
TG-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are known to possess two different conformations, active and inactive, and spontaneously alternate between the two in the absence of ligands. Here, we analyzed the agonist-independent GPCR activity for its possible role in receptor-instructed axonal projection. We generated transgenic mice expressing activity mutants of the β2-adrenergic receptor. We found that mutants with altered agonist-independent activity changed the transcription levels of axon targeting molecules, thus, causing shifts in target sites of olfactory sensory neurons. We conclude that the equilibrium of conformational transitions set by each odorant receptor is the major determinant of expression levels of axon targeting molecules.
