Why endosomes recycle GPCRs

FOCAL POINT  (Left to right) Shanna Bowman, Manojkumar Puthenveedu, and Daniel Shiwarski (not pictured) investigated the consequences of GPCRs’ relocation to tubular portions of endosomes that harbor ASRT domains. In this heatmap time series of a single kidney cell, red indicates high levels of cAMP, a measure of GPCR activation. Levels of cAMP are low when the cell is first stimulated (left), but they surge as GPCRs at the surface of the cell are activated. cAMP levels remain elevated as GPCRs are internalized and continue signaling (right).

PUTHENVEEDU PHOTO COURTESY OF TIM KAULEN FOR CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY; BOWMAN PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN BOWMAN