G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are classically defined as the receptor, G-protein and downstream effectors, the alpha subunit of the G-protein is the primary signaling molecule. However GPCRs are involved in many diverse signaling events, using a variety of pathways that include the mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs), extracellular signal regulated
kinase (ERK) c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAPK. Some of these involve metastable complexes of receptor and accessory proteins such as the arrestins. [Azzi et al 2003]
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