Orphan G Protein-coupled Receptors in Post-Genome Era

In 'Nature', Dixon et al. reported the first cloned mammalian G-protein coupled receptor sequence (1). The DNA sequence from a hamster encodes the $\beta$$_2$-aderenergic receptor. In the same year, 1986, Kubo et al. published the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor sequence (M$_1$) from a rat in the same journal (2). Both groups purified the receptor proteins and identified the DNA sequences (1, 2). (omitted)