Flavonoids as G Protein-coupled Receptors Ligands: New Potential Therapeutic Natural Drugs

Abstract

Abstract: G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are among the largest family of cell surface re-ceptors found in the human genome. They govern a wide range of physiological responses in both health and diseases, making them one of the potential targeted surface receptors for pharmaceuti-cals. Flavonoids can modulate GPCRs activity by acting as allosteric ligands. They can either en-hance or reduce the GPCR's effect. Emerging research shows that individual flavonoids or mix-tures of flavonoids from plant extracts can have relevant pharmacological effects against a num-ber of diseases, particularly by influencing GPCRs. In the present review, we are considering to give a comprehensive overview of flavonoids and related compounds that exhibit GPCRs activity and to further explore which beneficial structural features. Molecular docking was used to strengthen experimental evidence and describe flavonoid-GPCRs interactions at molecular level.