The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is historically the prototypical receptor
tyrosine kinase, being the first cloned and the first where the importance of ligand-induced dimer
activation was ascertained. However, many years of structure determination has shown that EGFR is
not completely understood. One challenge is that the many structure fragments stored at the PDB only
provide a partial view because full-length proteins are flexible entities and dynamics play a key role in
their functionality. Another challenge is the shortage of high-resolution data on functionally important
higher-order complexes. Still, the interest in the structure/function relationships of EGFR remains
unabated because of the crucial role played by oncogenic EGFR mutants in driving non-small cell
lung cancer (NSCLC). Despite targeted therapies against EGFR setting a milestone in the treatment
of this disease, ubiquitous drug resistance inevitably emerges after one year or so of treatment.
The magnitude of the challenge has inspired novel strategies. Among these, the combination of
multi-disciplinary experiments and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations have been pivotal in
revealing the basic nature of EGFR monomers, dimers and multimers, and the structure-function
relationships that underpin the mechanisms by which EGFR dysregulation contributes to the onset of
NSCLC and resistance to treatment