A CNU research team has been drawing attention for presenting research results on several regulatory principles for cell membrane receptors, which has not been clearly explained until now.

The term “receptor” refers to a protein that exhibits efficacy by binding to a drug.

The research team of Professor Kim Kyeong-man (Department of Pharmacy) presented the principle of the phenomenon of “desensitization” in which the effect of drugs gradually weakens when the drug is repeatedly used from a new perspective through a more systematic study.

For example, when a drug is repeatedly employed, signal transduction is degraded by sequestering Gβγ, a signaling factor of GPCR (G protein-coupled receptors) through the process of attaching and dropping a specific protein, resulting in desensitization.

These research results are expected to be used as standards for the development of new drugs or for facilitating appropriate therapeutic effects of existing drugs.

GPCR is known to be one of the receptors present in cell membranes, and there are about 1,000 types of GPCR. It is also known that about 30-40% of prex-x-x-scription drugs activate or block GPCR from having therapeutic effects. However, for the past 20 to 30 years, this principle has been limited to the extent that it can be applied to only a few GPCRs, although the key factor determining the desensitization of GPCRs was known as the phosphorylation of GPCRs and contributed to the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Therefore, Professor Kim's research team has been trying to clarify the fundamental principle that can be commonly applied to all GPCRs in the process of signaling and regulating them. While presenting research results on several regulatory principles for cell membrane receptors, the research accomplishments were recently published in the form of three articles in Biochemical Pharmacology (JCR 10%) and BBA-MCR and are attracting attention from interested academics.