Insights That Move the GPCR Field Forward

When David Hodson’s lab teamed up with chemist Johannes Broichhagen aka JB (then a young researcher newly arrived during a home DIY moment), the goal was bold and elegant: Create a photo-switchable ligand to remotely control GPCR signaling with light. This was the moment when photopharmacology felt like the future. The literature was buzzing. Labs were competing. The idea was simple — turn signaling on or off with a flash of light.

When you walk into a typical academic lab, the boundaries are obvious: this PI’s corner, that group’s benches, their grants, their silos. But in Melbourne, a quiet experiment challenged that model — and it worked.

The first time Michelle ran a cyclic AMP assay, she did it with a single-channel pipette, trays of melting ice, and the kind of focus that only comes from knowing one mistake could waste weeks of work.

Michelle hadn’t mapped out a scientific empire. She was a student expecting tedium, not inspiration. Yet that summer research placement cracked open a new reality: the thrill of asking questions no one else could answer.

This week’s insights give you a strategic edge across the pipeline—from drug design that accounts for physiological counterforces, to simplifying internalization detection without microscopy, to boosting HTRF assay sensitivity using fluorescent ligands. It’s a curated toolkit designed to help GPCR professionals move faster, with more confidence. Premium Members count on this every week—and this is your preview.

Ajay Yekkirala’s journey from rejected med student to GPCR biotech founder shows how failure, mentorship, and curiosity can drive real innovation in drug discovery.

This week's Terry's Corner with Dr. Terry Kenakin delivers a game-changing framework for teams grappling with the gap between in vitro potency and in vivo performance.

Dr. Alex Serafini turned chronic pain into a research mission. Discover how personal experience shaped his work on GPCRs, RGS proteins, and new pain models.

October 2022 "Type 2 bradykinin receptor (B2R) is an essential G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that regulates the cardiovascular system...

September 2022 "G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs) are valuable therapeutic targets for many diseases. A central question of GPCR drug...