The new horizon for cardiac therapy may lie beneath the surface, with the downstream mediators of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) activity. Targeted approaches have shown that receptor activation may be biased toward signaling through G proteins or through GPCR kinases (GRKs) and β-arrestins, with divergent functional outcomes. In addition to these canonical roles, numerous noncanonical activities of GRKs and β-arrestins have been demonstrated to modulate GPCR signaling at all levels of receptor activation and regulation. Further, research continues to identify novel GRK/effector and β-arrestin/effector complexes with distinct impacts on cardiac function in the normal heart and the diseased heart. Coupled with the identification of once orphan receptors and endogenous ligands with beneficial cardiovascular effects, this expands the repertoire of GPCR targets. Together, this research highlights the potential for focused therapeutic activation of beneficial pathways, with simultaneous exclusion or inhibition of detrimental signaling, and represents a new wave of therapeutic development.
Keywords: AR, adrenergic receptor; AT1R, angiotensin II type 1A receptor; CRF, corticotropin-releasing factor; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; ERK1/2, extracellular signal-regulated kinase; G protein–coupled receptor kinases; G protein–coupled receptors; GPCR, G protein–coupled receptor; GRK, G protein–coupled receptor kinase; HF, heart failure; ICL, intracellular loop; PI3K, phosphoinositide 3-kinase; SERCA2a, sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase; SII, [Sar(1), Ile (4), Ile(8)]-angiotensin II; biased ligands.