Guanylyl cyclase receptors.

Molecular Physiology of Membrane Guanylyl Cyclase Receptors.

cGMP controls many cellular functions ranging from growth, viability, and differentiation to contractility, secretion, and ion transport. The mammalian genome encodes seven transmembrane guanylyl cyclases (GCs), GC-A to GC-G, which mainly modulate submembrane cGMP microdomains. These GCs share a unique topology comprising an extracellular domain, a short transmembrane region, and an intracellul...

Guanylyl cyclase receptors mediate cardiopulmonary vagal reflex actions of ANP.

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) potentiates vagal cardiopulmonary reflexes due to chemosensory (Bezold-Jarisch [B-J] reflex) or mechanosensory (ramp baroreflex) activation. The ANP receptor mediating these actions is unknown. We examined the role of particulate guanylyl-cyclase (pGC) receptors in ANP-induced enhancement of cardiopulmonary vagal reflexes. Cardiopulmonary baroreceptor reflex fun...

Guanylyl cyclase-linked natriuretic peptide receptors: structure and regulation.

The regulation and physiological roles of the guanylyl cyclase receptors.

CYCLIC guanosine 3', 5'-monophosphate (cGMP) was the second of the cyclic nucleotide "second messengers" discovered [1-3] and 35 years later, its role in many cells remains unclear. It has been suggested that the rate of cGMP turnover is one means by which this nucleotide signals [4], but most studies suggest cells monitor intracellular cGMP concentrations, which are regulated by guanylyl cycla...

Guanylyl cyclase sees the light

Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) is a critical second messenger that regulates cardiovascular function and vision in humans. Two recent papers, including one in BMC Structural Biology, have revealed atomic structures of the enzymes that catalyze the synthesis of cGMP providing new clues about the molecular basis of substrate specificity and allosteric regulation in nucleotide cyclases.