The oligomeric assembly of the phosphodiesterase-5 is a mixture of dimers and tetramers: a putative role in the regulation of function
Background: Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are a superfamily of evolutionary conserved cyclic nucleotides (cAMP/cGMP) hydrolysing enzymes, components of transduction pathways regulating crucial aspects of cell life. PDE5, one of these families, is the molecular target of several drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension. Despite its medical relevance, PDE5 macromolecular structure has only been solved for the isolated regulatory and catalytic domains.