| Mutations in either polycystin-2 (PC2) or polycystin-1 (PC1) proteins cause severe, potentially lethal, kidney disorders (autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, ADPKD) and multiple extrarenal disease phenotypes. PC2, a member of the transient receptor potential channel superfamily and PC1, an orphan membrane receptor of largely unknown function, are thought to be part of a common signalling pathway. Here, I show that co-assembly of full-length PC1 with PC2 forms an ion channel signalling complex in which PC1 regulates PC2 channel gating through a structural rearrangement of the polycystin complex (Delmas et al., 2004a). These polycystin complexes function either as a receptor-cation channel or as a G-protein-coupled receptor. Thus, PC1 acts as a... |
