The glucagon receptor belongs to the B family of G-protein coupled receptors. Little structural information is available about this receptor and its association with glucagon. We used the substituted cysteine accessibility method and three-dimensional molecular modeling based on the gastrointestinal insulinotropic peptide and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor structures to study the N-terminal domain of this receptor, a central element for ligand binding and specificity. with at least one free cysteine associated with the receptor prevented glucagon recognition and that [2-(trimethylammonium)ethyl]methanethiosulfonate treatment relieved this inhibition. The substituted cysteine accessibility method was also performed on 15 residues selected using the three-dimensional models. Several receptor mutants, despite a relatively high predicted cysteine accessibility, could not be labeled by specific reagents. The three-dimensional models show that these mutated residues are located on one face of the protein. This could be part of the interface between the receptor and the unidentified inhibitory protein, making these residues inaccessible to biotinylation compounds.The G-protein coupled receptors related to the secretin receptor (1), known as "family B" receptors, form a very small but very important subfamily of G protein-coupled receptors. This family includes, among others, the receptors for parathyroid hormone, glucagon, gastrointestinal insulinotropic peptide (GIP), 4 glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), corticotrophinrelated factor (CRF), or growth hormone-releasing hormone. Although the two receptor families probably evolved from a common ancestor, rhodopsin-related (family A) and family B receptors present few similarities (1). Except for two cysteine residues in the first and second extracellular loops, none of the signature amino acids defining family A G protein-coupled receptors are identified in family B receptors. It is therefore impossible to extrapolate the structural information gathered on rhodopsin activation (2, 3) to these receptors.All family B receptors possess a large extracellular N-terminal domain of 100 -150 amino acids, which contains highly conserved residues and three conserved disulfide bonds. Truncated and hybrid peptide recognition by chimeric receptors indicate that these domains anchor the cognate agonist peptides through their C-terminal region, whereas the N-terminal regions of the peptides interact with and activate the receptors via the heptahelical transmembrane domains (4, 5).The three-dimensional structures of the N-terminal domain of the CRF2, PAC1, GLP-1, and GIP receptors and of the CRF1 or parathyroid hormone receptor N-terminal region fused with the maltose-binding protein, in complex with their respective agonist or antagonist ligands, have been determined by NMR or x-ray diffraction studies (6 -12). These structures share a common fold stabilized by three conserved disulfide bridges and by an ionic bridge involving a conserved aspartate.The scanning cysteine accessibility m...