Recent crystal structures of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have revealed ordered internal water molecules, raising questions about the functional role of those waters for receptor activation that could not be answered by the static structures. Here, we used molecular dynamics simulations to monitor—at atomic and high temporal resolution—conformational changes of central importance for the activation of three prototypical GPCRs with known crystal structures: the adenosine A_2A receptor, the β₂-adrenergic receptor and rhodopsin. Our simulations reveal that a hydrophobic layer of amino acid residues next to the characteristic NPxxY motif forms a gate that opens to form a continuous water channel only upon receptor activation. The highly conserved tyrosine residue Y^7.53 undergoes transitions between three distinct conformations representative of inactive, G-protein activated and GPCR metastates. Additional analysis of the available GPCR crystal structures reveals general principles governing the functional roles of internal waters in GPCRs.

The lateral organization of a prototypical G protein-coupled receptor, the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R), was investigated in living cells by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) microscopy, taking advantage of the recently developed acyl carrier protein (ACP) labeling technique. The NK1R was expressed as fusion protein with ACP to which small fluorophores were then covalently bound. Our approach allowed the recording of FRET images of receptors on living cells with unprecedented high signal-to-noise ratios and a subsequent unequivocal quantification of the FRET data owing to ( i ) the free choice of optimal fluorophores, ( ii ) the labeling of NK1Rs exclusively on the cell surface, and ( iii ) the precise control of the donor–acceptor molar ratio. Our single-cell FRET measurements exclude the presence of constitutive or ligand-induced homodimers or oligomers of NK1Rs. The strong dependence of FRET on the receptor concentration further reveals that NK1Rs tend to concentrate in microdomains, which are found to constitute ≈1% of the cell membrane and to be sensitive to cholesterol depletion.