G-protein–coupled receptors the focus of Nobel Prize in Chemistry

      The Nobel Prize site provides an excellent summary of the function and importance of G-protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) written for the "non-medical" reader in preparation for today's announcement of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  Two Americans share the 2012 prize: Robert J. Lefkowitz, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University Medical Center, and Brian K. Kobilka, Stanford University School of Medicine.  Lefkowitz co-authored a book, cataloged in OBIS, that grew out of his early research at Duke University: Receptor binding studies in adrenergic pharmacology. Articles by Kobilka appear in several books listed in the OhioLINK catalog.  All told, there are many hundreds of articles authored or co-authored by Lefkowitz and Kobilka, as found in the Web of Knowledge: 213 articles by Kobilka, cited 12,290 times and 1,177 articles by Lefkowitz, cited 29,842 times.  The sheer number of publications and citations to those works attests to the productivity of their research teams and significance of their findings.

A broader overview of research methodology for GPCRs is given in the monograph edited by Poyner and Wheatley [a Wiley ebook, accessible online at ebrary]. Many related titles can be found with a quick keyword search in OBIS and OhioLINK.  Search: g protein and coupled receptor*.