Helix Packing and Ligand Binding in Dopamine Receptors

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (From applicant?s abstract): This is a postdoctoral NRSA application to apply specialized computational approaches to study the structure of dopamine receptors. The three-dimensional structures of G-protein-coupled receptors are not yet known because none of them have been successfully crystallized. However, rhodopsin has been crystallized, although only at relatively low resolution. The candidate will utilize a series of potential energy screening algorithms developed in the sponsor?s laboratory to achieve structural information about dopamine receptors at the atomic level, using known structural information from rhodopsin as a guide. These analyses would begin with the transmembrane segments, then proceed to analyze the potential structure of ligand binding domains of dopamine receptor types.