G protein-coupled receptor oligomerization for what?

Although the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) oligomerization has been questioned during the last decade, under some premises the existence of a supramolecular organization of these receptors begins now to be widely accepted by the scientific community. Indeed, GPCR oligomers may enhance the diversity and performance by which extracellular signals are transferred to the G proteins in the process of receptor transduction, although the mechanism that underlie this phenomenon remains still unexplained. Recently, a trans-conformational switching model has been proposed as a mechanism allowing direct inhibition of receptor activation. Thus, heterotropic receptor-receptor allosteric regulations are behind the GPCR oligomeric function. Accordingly, we revise here how GPCR oligomerization impinge in several important receptor functions like biosynthesis, plasma membrane diffusion or velocity, pharmacology and signaling. Overall, the rationale of receptor oligomerization might lie in the cellular need of sensing complex extracellular signals and to translate into a simple computational mode.