Feb 25, 2025

GPCR Assay Service Center Opens at Penn State College of Medicine

New facility will enable Penn State researchers to perform large-scale drug screening and signal transduction monitoring

Penn State’s College of Medicine is excited to announce the opening of a new G-Protein Coupled Receptor Assay Service Center, established to accelerate scientific discovery in GPCR physiology and pharmacology.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large and diverse family of membrane proteins that play a crucial role in cellular signaling. With over 800 distinct GPCRs identified in humans, they are involved in the regulation of key physiological processes such as neurotransmission, immune response, and hormone signaling.

GPCRs are also major drug targets. It is estimated that approximately 25% of all FDA-approved drugs target GPCRs. Pharmaceuticals acting on these receptors treat conditions ranging from cardiovascular disease to mental health disorders.

However, few universities offer the capabilities to do the large-scale drug screening and signal transduction monitoring made possible by this new GPCR Service Center.

Penn State Investigators will now have the right tools to begin identifying signal transduction processes specific to their GPCR of interest (such as opioid, cannabinoid and muscarinic) that are either natively present or expressed heterologously in cell systems.

Instrumentation in the new Center includes a FlexStation3 Multi-Mode Microplate Reader a Neon NxT Electroporation System, and a Countess 3 Automated Cell Counter.

Services available include:

· Identifying GPCR signal transduction pathways

· GPCR ligand concentration-response relationships

· GPCR pharmacological profiles

· Heterologous expression of GPCR of interest

· Data analysis

Center director Victor Ruiz-Velasco Professor and Associate Vice Chair for Basic Science Research, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, has over 25 years’ experience working with GPCR and G proteins. He has published 35 manuscripts that examine signaling elements that couple GPCRs and ion channels in neurons and cardiac cells.

For more information, visit: https://research.med.psu.edu/c...

Or contact Director Victor Ruiz-Velasco at vjr10@psu.edu