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Researchers have discovered hundreds of different receptors that act through G-proteins—Rodbell's transducer molecules. More than 65% of all prescription drugs act on such receptors, and a significant portion of the human genome codes for these receptors. Defective G-proteins cause a number of diseases.
"When we know the whole diagram [of signal transduction in all types of cells], we'll know how every cell is controlled. You'll be able to design a drug that works only on the molecule you want and on no other molecule in the body. It will happen. I just can't tell you when." --Alfred G. Gilman
Work
continues as researchers attempt to identify and determine the structure of
all the body's receptors and to clarify the role they play in normal functions
like human growth, detecting light and odor, and in fighting infection. Here
are just three conditions where G-proteins are important:
Cholera
Inherited Night Blindness
McCune Albright Syndrome
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