Transmembrane guanylyl cyclases are homodimeric receptors activated by a diverse range of endogenous ligands. GC-A, GC-B and GC-C are expressed predominantly in the cardiovascular system, skeletal system and intestinal epithelium, respectively. GC-D and GC-G are found in the olfactory neuropepithelium and Grüeneberg ganglion of rodents, respectively. GC-E and GC-F are expressed in retinal photoreceptors. Family members have conserved ligand-binding, catalytic (guanylyl cyclase) and regulatory domains with the exception of NPR-C which has an extracellular binding domain homologous to that of other NPRs, but with a truncated intracellular domain which appears to couple, via the G_i/o family of G proteins, to activation of phospholipase C, inwardly-rectifying potassium channels and inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity [19].

GC-D and GC-G have been reported to be activated intracellularly by guanylyl cyclase-activating protein 1 (GUCA1A, P43080) and guanylyl cyclase-activating protein 2 (GUCA1B, Q9UMX6). GC-D and GC-G may be activated by atmospheric levels of CO₂ through the formation of intracellular bicarbonate ions [4,11]. GC-G may be activated at cooler temperatures (20-25°C) through apparent stabilisation of the dimer [3].

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Subcommittee members: Adrian J. Hobbs (Co-chairperson) Professor of Cardiovascular Pharmacology William Harvey Research Institute Heart Centre (1st Floor) Barts & The London School of Medicine & Dentistry Queen Mary University of London Charterhouse Square London EC1M 6BQ UK Scott A. Waldman (Co-chairperson) Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia Pennsylvania, USA John C. Burnett, Jr. Division of Cardiovascular Disease Mayo Clinic Rochester MN USA John Garthwaite Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT UK Doris Koesling Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie Medizinische Fakultät Ruhr-Universität Bochum 44780 Bochum, Germany Michaela Kuhn Physiologisches Institut der Universität Würzburg Würzburg Germany Lincoln R. Potter Molecular Biology and Biophysics University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA Michael Russwurm Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Ruhr University Bochum Bochum, Germany Harald H.H.W. Schmidt Department of Pharmacology Maastricht University Maastricht The Netherlands Johannes-Peter Stasch Cardiovascular Research Bayer AG Wuppertal, Germany

Other contributors: Annie Beuve Department of Pharmacology Physiology and Neuroscience Rutgers Medical School New Jersey, USA Peter Brouckaert Laboratory for Molecular Pathology and Experimental Therapy Inflammation Research Center Ghent, Belgium Andreas Friebe Physiologisches Institut Röntgenring 9 Würzburg, Germany