Extracellular calcium-sensing receptor
Also known as: CASR, GPRC2A, PCAR1
Function
G protein-coupled receptor that senses changes in the extracellular concentration of calcium ions and plays a key role in maintaining calcium homeostasis. Senses fluctuations in the circulating calcium concentration: activated by elevated circulating calcium, leading to decreased parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion in parathyroid glands (By similarity). In kidneys, acts as a key regulator of renal tubular calcium resorption (By similarity). Ligand binding causes a conformation change that triggers signaling via guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) and modulates the activity of downstream effectors. CASR is coupled with different G(q)/G(11), G(i)/G(o)- or G(s)-classes of G proteins depending on the context. In the parathyroid and kidney, CASR signals through G(q)/G(11) and G(i)/G(o) G proteins: G(q)/G(11) coupling activates phospholipase C-beta, releasing diacylglycerol (DAG) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) second messengers, while G(i)/G(o) coupling mediates inhibition of adenylate cyclase activity. The G protein-coupled receptor activity is activated by a co-agonist mechanism: aromatic amino acids, such as Trp or Phe, act concertedly with divalent cations, such as calcium or magnesium, to achieve full receptor activation. Acts as an activator of the NLRP3 inflammasome via G(i)/G(o)-mediated signaling: down-regulation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) relieving NLRP3 inhibition by cAMP. Acts as a regulator of proton-sensing receptor GPR68 in a seesaw manner: CASR-mediated signaling inhibits GPR68 signaling in response to extracellular calcium, while GPR68 inhibits CASR in presence of extracellular protons (By similarity).
Classification
- Family (Pfam)
- PF00003 7tm_3, PF01094 ANF_receptor, PF07562 NCD3G
- InterPro
- ANF_lig-bd_rcpt, GPCR_3, GPCR_3_9-Cys_dom, GPCR_3_9-Cys_sf, GPCR_3_C, GPCR_3_Ca_sens_rcpt-rel, GPCR_3_CS, Peripla_BP_I
- Functional cluster
- Immunoglobulin-Domain Cell Adhesion Proteins
Experimental structures · PDB · 31
- 5FBH X-ray 2.70A
- 5FBK X-ray 2.10A
- 5K5S X-ray 2.60A
- 5K5T X-ray 3.10A
- 7DTT EM 3.80A
- 7DTU EM 4.40A
- 7DTV EM 3.50A
- 7DTW EM 4.50A
- 7E6T EM 3.00A
- 7E6U EM 6.00A
- 7M3E EM 3.20A
- 7M3F EM 2.80A
- … and 19 more
A predicted model is available from AlphaFold.
Gene Ontology · 47
- GO:0016324 apical plasma membrane
- GO:0043679 axon terminus
- GO:0016323 basolateral plasma membrane
- GO:0009986 cell surface
- GO:0098978 glutamatergic synapse
- GO:0043025 neuronal cell body
- GO:0005886 plasma membrane
- GO:0042734 presynaptic membrane
- GO:0016597 amino acid binding
- GO:0005509 calcium ion binding
- GO:0004930 G protein-coupled receptor activity
- GO:0042802 identical protein binding
- GO:0005178 integrin binding
- GO:0042803 protein homodimerization activity
- GO:0019901 protein kinase binding
- GO:0044325 transmembrane transporter binding
- GO:0007193 adenylate cyclase-inhibiting G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway
- GO:0009653 anatomical structure morphogenesis
- GO:0032782 bile acid secretion
- GO:0048754 branching morphogenesis of an epithelial tube
- GO:0071333 cellular response to glucose stimulus
- GO:0035729 cellular response to hepatocyte growth factor stimulus
- GO:0071456 cellular response to hypoxia
- GO:0071404 cellular response to low-density lipoprotein particle stimulus
- GO:1901653 cellular response to peptide
- GO:0071305 cellular response to vitamin D
- GO:0007635 chemosensory behavior
- GO:1902476 chloride transmembrane transport
- GO:0005513 detection of calcium ion
- GO:0060613 fat pad development
- GO:0007186 G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway
- GO:0006874 intracellular calcium ion homeostasis
- GO:0007254 JNK cascade
- GO:0001503 ossification
- GO:0007200 phospholipase C-activating G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway
- GO:0090280 positive regulation of calcium ion import
- GO:0008284 positive regulation of cell population proliferation
- GO:0070374 positive regulation of ERK1 and ERK2 cascade
- GO:0032024 positive regulation of insulin secretion
- GO:1900227 positive regulation of NLRP3 inflammasome complex assembly
- GO:0050927 positive regulation of positive chemotaxis
- GO:0045907 positive regulation of vasoconstriction
- GO:0051924 regulation of calcium ion transport
- GO:0099505 regulation of presynaptic membrane potential
- GO:0071774 response to fibroblast growth factor
- GO:0002931 response to ischemia
- GO:0042311 vasodilation
Disease associations
- familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia 1 MONDO:0007791
- neonatal severe primary hyperparathyroidism MONDO:0009397
- autosomal dominant hypocalcemia 1 MONDO:0011013
- epilepsy, idiopathic generalized, susceptibility to, 8 MONDO:0013032
Drugs targeting this protein · 6
- RONACALERET antagonist
- CINACALCET HYDROCHLORIDE positive allosteric modulator
- TECALCET HYDROCHLORIDE modulator
- ETELCALCETIDE HYDROCHLORIDE agonist
- ETELCALCETIDE agonist
- EVOCALCET positive allosteric modulator
Related proteins · sequence + function similarity
- Extracellular calcium-sensing receptor 0.99
- Extracellular calcium-sensing receptor 0.99
- Extracellular calcium-sensing receptor 0.99
- Extracellular calcium-sensing receptor 0.99
- Vomeronasal type-2 receptor 1 0.91
- Metabotropic glutamate receptor 3 0.82
- G protein-coupled receptor family C group 6 member A 0.81
- G protein-coupled receptor family C group 6 member A 0.81
- Metabotropic glutamate receptor 3 0.81
- Metabotropic glutamate receptor 3 0.81
- Metabotropic glutamate receptor 3 0.81
- Metabotropic glutamate receptor 3 0.81
Co-cited proteins · studied together in the literature
- Extracellular calcium-sensing receptor 1 shared papers
- Metabotropic glutamate receptor 7 1 shared papers
- Metabotropic glutamate receptor 3 1 shared papers
- Ras-related protein Rab-1A 1 shared papers
- E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase RNF19A 1 shared papers
- NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 3 1 shared papers
- Transitional endoplasmic reticulum ATPase 1 shared papers
Literature · 83 cited papers
- An activating calcium-sensing receptor variant with biased signaling reveals a critical residue for Galpha11 coupling. J. Bone Miner. Res. · 2025
- Promiscuous G-protein activation by the calcium-sensing receptor. Nature · 2024
- Allosteric modulation and G-protein selectivity of the Ca2+-sensing receptor. Nature · 2024
- Structural insights into asymmetric activation of the calcium-sensing receptor-Gq complex. Cell Res. · 2024
- Symmetric activation and modulation of the human calcium-sensing receptor. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · 2021
- Structural insights into the activation of human calcium-sensing receptor. Elife · 2021
- Asymmetric activation of the calcium-sensing receptor homodimer. Nature · 2021
- Structural mechanism of cooperative activation of the human calcium-sensing receptor by Ca2+ ions and L-tryptophan. Cell Res. · 2021
- Calcium-sensing receptor-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome response to calciprotein particles drives inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. Nat. Commun. · 2020
- Illuminating the allosteric modulation of the calcium-sensing receptor. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · 2020
- Positive Allosteric Modulation of the Calcium-sensing Receptor by Physiological Concentrations of Glucose. J. Biol. Chem. · 2016
- Structural mechanism of ligand activation in human calcium-sensing receptor. Elife · 2016
- … and 71 more in the literature graph