The use of receptor-specific antibodies to study G-protein-coupled receptors.

The identification of G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) cDNAs has facilitated a number of studies characterizing the biochemical properties of the receptor protein. Most of these studies have used antibodies directed against the epitope-tagged receptor expressed in heterologous cells, because of the lack of sensitive and selective antibodies capable of recognizing endogenous receptors in their native state. In order to facilitate studies with endogenous receptors, efforts have been made to generate receptor-type selective, sensitive antibodies that are able to recognize endogenous receptors. In this review, we discuss the strategies as well as the details of the techniques used for the generation of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies with a focus on family A GPCRs.