Adhesion G protein‐coupled receptors (aGPCRs) are a class of structurally and functionally highly intriguing cell surface receptors with essential functions in health and disease. Thus, they display a vastly unexploited pharmacological potential. Our current understanding of the physiological functions and signaling mechanisms of aGPCRs form the basis for elucidating further molecular aspects. Combining these with novel tools and methodologies from different fields tailored for studying these unusual receptors yields a powerful potential for pushing aGPCR research from singular approaches toward building up an in‐depth knowledge that will facilitate its translation to applied science. In this review, we summarize the state‐of‐the‐art knowledge on aGPCRs in respect to structure–function relations, physiology, and clinical aspects, as well as the latest advances in the field. We highlight the upcoming most pressing topics in aGPCR research and identify strategies to tackle them. Furthermore, we discuss approaches how to promote, stimulate, and translate research on aGPCRs ‘from bench to bedside’ in the future.

Dimerization of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) may play an important role in maturation, internalization, signaling and/or pharmacology of these receptors. However, the location where dimerization occurs is still under debate. In our study, variants of Ste2p, a yeast mating pheromone GPCR, were tagged with split EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) fragments inserted between transmembrane domain seven and the C-terminus or appended to the C-terminus. Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC) assay was used to determine where receptor dimerization occurred during protein trafficking by monitoring generation of EGFP fluorescence, which occurred upon GPCR dimerization. Our results suggest that these tagged receptors traffic to the membrane as monomers, undergo dimerization or higher ordered oligomerization predominantly on the plasma membrane, and are internalized as dimers/oligomers. This study is the first to provide direct in vivo visualization of GPCR dimerization/oligomerization, during trafficking to and from the plasma membrane.

G protein coupled receptors bind ligands that initiate intracellular signaling cascades via heterotrimeric G proteins. In this study, involvement of the N-terminal residues of yeast G-alpha (Gpa1p) with the C-terminal residues of a full-length or C-terminally truncated Ste2p were investigated using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET), a non-radiative energy transfer phenomenon where protein-protein interactions can be quantified between a donor bioluminescent molecule and a suitable acceptor fluorophore. Constitutive and position-dependent BRET signal was observed in the absence of agonist (α-factor). Upon the activation of the receptors with α-factor, no significant change in BRET signal was observed. The location of Ste2p-Gpa1p heterodimer was investigated using confocal fluorescence microscopy and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay, a technique where two non-fluorescent fragments of a fluorescent protein reassemble in vivo to restore fluorescence property thereby directly reporting a protein-protein interaction. BiFC experiments resulted in a dimerization signal intracellularly during biosynthesis on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and on the plasma membrane (PM). The constitutive BRET and BiFC signals observed on ER between Ste2p and Gpa1p in their quiescent and activated states are indicative of pre-coupling between these two proteins. This study is the first to show that the extreme N-terminus of yeast G protein alpha subunit is in close proximity to its receptor. The data suggests a pre-coupled heterodimer prior to receptor activation. The images presented in this study are the first direct in vivo evidence showing the localization of receptor - G protein heterodimers during biosynthesis and before reaching the plasma membrane.

GPR56/ADGRG1 is an adhesion GPCR and mutations on this receptor cause cortical malformation due to the over-migration of neural progenitor cells on the brain surface. At the pial surface, GPR56 interacts with collagen III, induces Rho dependent activation through Gα12/13 and inhibits the neuronal migration. In human glioma cells, GPR56 inhibits cell migration through Gαq/11 dependent Rho pathway. GPR56-tetraspanin complex is known to couple with Gαq/11. GPR56 is an aGPCR that couples with various G proteins and signals through different downstream pathways. In this study, BFPP mutants disrupting GPR56 function but remain to be expressed on plasma membrane were used to study receptor signaling through Gα12, Gα13 and Gα11 with BRET biosensors. GPR56 showed coupling with all three G proteins and activated heterotrimeric G protein signaling upon stimulation with Stachel peptide. However, BFPP mutants showed different signaling defects for each G protein indicative of distinct activation and signaling properties of GPR56 for Gα12, Gα13 or Gα11. β-arrestin recruitment was also investigated following the activation of GPR56 with Stachel peptide using BRET biosensors. N-terminally truncated GPR56 showed enhanced β-arrestin recruitment, however neither wild-type receptor nor BFPP mutants gave any measurable recruitment upon Stachel stimulation, pointing different activation mechanisms for β-arrestin involvement.