Endocrine Abstracts

Receptor endocytosis plays an important role in regulating the responsiveness of cells to specific hormones. Phosphatidylinositol 4, 5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4, 5)P2) has been shown to be critical for many endocytic processes including the internalization of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). We have previously shown that depletion of PtdIns(4, 5) P2 by the chemically induced plasma membrane recruitment of a 5-phosphatase domain prevents the internalizati...

It is generally believed that the signal transduction of AT1 angiotensin receptor (AT1R), the major receptor of angiotensin II, requires ligand binding and subsequent adoption of its active conformation. Activated AT1R induces a plethora of signaling pathways, in contrast to inactive AT1R, which was thought to be silent in terms of signaling. We hypothesized that unliganded, but phosphorylated AT1R may recruit β-arrestins, the key proteins of receptor desensitization, int...