The G-protein-coupled receptor B1 family includes corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), growth hormone-releasing hormone, incretin, and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide receptors. The three-dimensional NMR structure of the first extracellular domain (ECD1) of CRF receptor 2 (CRF-R2), free and complexed with astressin, comprises a Sushi domain. This domain is stabilized in part by a salt bridge between Asp 65 and Arg 101 . Analogous residues are conserved in other members of the B1 family. To address the importance of the salt bridge residues within this receptor family, we studied the effects of mutating the residues in full-length CRF-R2 and isolated ECD1. Mutation D65A or D65R/R101D resulted in loss of the canonical disulfide arrangement, whereas R101A retained the The B1 family of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) 4 comprises 15 genes in human, including receptors for corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), parathyroid hormone, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide, incretins (GIP and GLP), secretin, calcitonin, and glucagon and are characterized by relatively large first extracellular domains (ECD1s). In particular, the CRF system includes two distinct receptors, CRF-R1 and CRF-R2, as well as the peptide ligands CRF, urocortins (Ucns) 1, 2, and 3 in mammals, and the related peptides, (fish) urotensin and (frog) sauvagine. In addition, high affinity antagonist peptides have been synthesized, most notably astressin, which binds with equally high affinity to both receptors (1). Many studies have shown that the ECD1s of the CRF receptors constitute major ligand-binding sites. Chimeric receptors expressing the ECD1s bind CRF family ligands with high affinity, as do soluble proteins corresponding to the ECD1s (2-9). Studies of other B1 receptors report similar data (10 -16).A significant advance in understanding the structural determinants of ligand recognition for this receptor subfamily follows upon the determination of the three-dimensional NMR structure of the ECD1 of the type 2 CRF receptor, both free (17) and in complex with a peptide antagonist, astressin (18). In both forms, the ECD1 folds into a short consensus repeat (19) or Sushi domain, which contains two antiparallel -sheets, three disulfide bonds, and a salt bridge between aspartic acid 65