Heterotrimeric G protein

"G protein" usually refers to the membrane-associated heterotrimeric G proteins, sometimes referred to as the "large" G proteins (as opposed to the subclass of smaller, monomeric small GTPases) . These proteins are activated by G protein-coupled receptors and are made up of alpha (α), beta (β) and gamma (γ) subunits, the latter two referred to as the beta-gamma complex.