The DNAs encoding the receptors that respond to the peptide mating pheromones of the budding yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiaewere isolated in 1985, and were the very first genes for agonist-binding heterotrimeric G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to be cloned in any organism. Now, over 30 years later, this yeast and its receptors continue to provide a pathfinding experimental paradigm for investigating GPCR-initiated signaling and its regulation, as described in this retrospective overview.
Keywords: G protein; G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR); Saccharomyces cerevisiae; adaptor protein; cell adhesion; cell cycle arrest; cell differentiation; cell fusion; gene regulation; mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK); morphogenesis; nuclear fusion; polarized morphogenesis; post-translational modification (PTM); protein phosphorylation; scaffold protein; signal transduction.
© 2016 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.