β-Adrenergic receptors and rhodopsin: shedding new light on an old subject

Abstract

Among the best studied systems for transmembrane signalling in plasma membranes are the β-adrenergic receptor-adenylate cyclase system which responds to catecholamines and the visual transduction system of the rod outer segment which responds to light. Robert Lefkowitz and colleagues review recent insights into homologies between the receptor components of these two systems that have emerged from the molecular cloning of the β-adrenergic receptors and the discovery of the novel enzyme β-adrenergic receptor kinase which may regulate the function of a wide variety of adenylate cyclase coupled receptors.