Laboratoire de Génomique Fonctionnelle, UPR CNRS 2580, 141 rue de la Cardonille, 34094 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. joel.bockaert@ccipe.cnrs.fr
All cell types express a great variety of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that are coupled to only a limited set of G proteins. This disposition favors cross-talk between transduction pathways. However, GPCRs are organized into functional units. They promote specificity and thus avoid unsuitable cross-talk. New methodologies (mostly yeast two-hybrid screens and proteomics) have been used to discover more than 50 GPCR-associated proteins that are involved in building these units. In addition, these protein networks participate in the trafficking, targeting, signaling, fine-tuning and allosteric regulation of GPCRs. To date, proteins that interact with the GPCR C-terminus are the most abundant and are the focus of this review.