Fig. 2.

The canonical model of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor activation. Upon GLP-1 binding, the Gα subunit is activated by exchanging GDP for GTP, and then the G-protein subunits dissociate. Both the active Gα and the Gβγ subunits activate downstream effectors to propagate G-protein-coupled receptor signalling. The intrinsic GTPase activity converts the Gα subunit bound GTP to GDP, and the G-protein subunits then reassociate, ready for the arrival of a new agonist. This figure is adapted from Thompson and colleagues 11,17.