@article{MeralProvasiPradaGraciaetal.2018,
  author    = {Meral, Derya and Provasi, Davide and Prada-Gracia, Diego and M{\"o}ller, Jan and Marino, Kristen and Lohse, Martin J. and Filizola, Marta},
  title     = {Molecular details of dimerization kinetics reveal negligible populations of transient µ-opioid receptor homodimers at physiological concentrations},
  series = {Scientific Reports},
  volume    = {8},
  journal   = {Scientific Reports},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41598-018-26070-8},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-223995},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Various experimental and computational techniques have been employed over the past decade to provide structural and thermodynamic insights into G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR) dimerization. Here, we use multiple microsecond-long, coarse-grained, biased and unbiased molecular dynamics simulations (a total of ~4 milliseconds) combined with multi-ensemble Markov state models to elucidate the kinetics of homodimerization of a prototypic GPCR, the µ-opioid receptor (MOR), embedded in a 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC)/cholesterol lipid bilayer. Analysis of these computations identifies kinetically distinct macrostates comprising several different short-lived dimeric configurations of either inactive or activated MOR. Calculated kinetic rates and fractions of dimers at different MOR concentrations suggest a negligible population of MOR homodimers at physiological concentrations, which is supported by acceptor photobleaching fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiments. This study provides a rigorous, quantitative explanation for some conflicting experimental data on GPCR oligomerization.},
  language  = {en}
}