Electron crystallographic studies of rhodopsin

G protein-coupled receptors are a large superfamily of membrane proteins that play key roles in how cells respond to their external environment. The study of their structure and mechanism of activation will have important consequences for our understanding of pharmacology and cell function. This paper reviews work conducted by our laboratory on the 3D structure of rhodopsin. a prototypic G protein-coupled receptor, by electron crystallography. Furthermore, the exciting prospect of using electron crystallography to study light-activated changes in rhodopsin is discussed.