G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprise nature's largest family of signaling receptors and regulate essentially every physiological process in animals. For many years GPCRs were thought to mediate ligand-dependent signaling only from the plasma membrane. I will discuss emerging evidence that receptors signal also from internal membranes and what we presently known about the functional significance of this 'inner life'.
Mark Von Zastrow (University of California, San Francisco)