Structural insight to mutation effects uncover a common allosteric site in class C GPCRs

MOTIVATION: Class C G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) regulate important physiological functions and allosteric modulators binding to the transmembrane domain constitute an attractive and, due to a lack of structural insight, a virtually unexplored potential for therapeutics and the food industry. Combining pharmacological site-directed mutagenesis data with the recent class C GPCR experimental structures will provide a foundation for rational design of new therapeutics. RESULTS: We uncover one common site for both positive and negative modulators with different amino acid layouts that can be utilized to obtain selectivity. Additionally, we show a large potential for structure-based modulator design, especially for four orphan receptors with high similarity to the crystal structures. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: All collated mutagenesis data is available in the GPCRdb mutation browser at http://gpcrdb.org/mutations/ and can be analyzed online or downloaded in excel format. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.