Research Assistant
You investigated the structural dynamics underlying ligand bias of the neurotensin receptor to understand how SBI-553 selectively activates the β-arrestin pathway. You used biophysical methods to capture conformational changes associated with ligand binding and combined this with cell-based validation. Your work required expertise in receptor pharmacology, protein expression, and assay design. • Used NMR spectroscopy to detect receptor conformational changes during ligand binding timescales. • Performed dose-response analyses on cultured cells to validate the proposed mechanism in vitro. • Expressed and purified isotopically labeled Gα-i/q chimeric protein and NTSR1 for experimental studies. • Collected pilot data indicating β-arrestin recruitment changes with increasing SBI-553 dose.