Guanylyl cyclases, catalyzing the production of cGMP from GTP, are classified as soluble and membrane forms. The membrane guanylyl cyclases, often termed guanylyl cyclases A through F, form a family of cell-surface receptors with a similar topographic structure: an extracellular ligand-binding domain, a single membrane-spanning domain, and an intracellular region that contains a protein kinase-like domain and a cyclase catalytic domain. GC-A and GC-B function as receptors for natriuretic peptides; they are also referred to as atrial natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPR1) and type B, which encodes a protein with only the ligand-binding transmembrane and 37-amino acid cytoplasmic domains. NPR1 is a membrane-bound guanylate cyclase that serves as the receptor for both atrial and brain natriuretic peptides.
