G Protein-Coupled Receptor Guidebook

G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) represent a versatile family of plasma membrane receptors that elicit downstream intracellular signaling events. GPCRs play central roles in many physiological processes from sensory to neurological, cardiovascular, endocrine, and reproductive functions. Moreover GPCRs represent one of the largest gene families in the human genome, encoding approximately 800 unique proteins (Pawson et al., 2014). GPCRs’ unique structure and cell surface location make them ideal “druggable” targets for different drug therapies, assuring interest in the pharmaceutical and clinical medicine communities (Vischer, Watts, Nijmeijer, & Leurs, 2011). It is estimated that roughly 40%% of pharmaceuticals currently marketed target GPCRs (Vischer et al., 2011). It is important for medical illustrators to know how to illustrate GPCRs and understand the scientific literature available.