Binding, Affinity and Agonists Flashcards
Describe what a ligand?
Drugs that bind to receptors
Describe what an agonist is?
Bind to activate receptors and have efficacy to invoke responses
Describe what an antagonist is?
Bind to activate receptors and have zero efficacy to block agonists and and do not activate receptors
Describe what affinity means in terms of ligands and receptors?
How well a ligand binds to a receptor
Describe what efficacy means?
The ability of a drug to ACTIVATE a receptor and cause a RESPONSE
Describe what selectivity and specificity means in terms of ligand and receptors?
- Ability for the ligand to have binding site specificity
2. Property of receptor to only bind certain types of molecules
Describe what potency means in terms of the agonist?
- The measure of the amount of drug required to evoke a given response
- It’s the interaction of affinity and efficacy
What are the two main factors that control drug binding? And what is a dynamic equilibrium in relation to the drug?
- Speed of the drug reaching the receptor is diffusion controlled
- Electrostatic, hydrophobic, and hydrogen bonds allow drug to fit to the binding site
- dynamic equilibrium: how well the receptor binds and how easily it can come off the ligand
The drug cannot remain bound forever
What factors do you have to take into account when dealing with electrostatic and hydrophobic forces?
- Electrostatic- Charges of the receptor and ligands
2. Hydrophobic- Is the drug hydrophilic or lipophilic
How do you measure drug binding using ligand binding assays?
- Use a detectable ligand with a radioactive or fluorescent tag (L)
- Source of receptors (R) from tissues or membrane cells
- Measure the binding of ligand and receptor (RL)
R + L RL
What graph is normally used to record binding?
Scatchard Plot
Describe what Kd means?
- The equilibrium dissociation constant
- Concentration of the ligand to bind 50% of available sites
- Determined by the forward rate of association and the reverse rate of dissociation of the receptor
(Affinity)
The lower the Kd value the higher the affinity
What can you use a competitive binding ligand assay for?
- Use it to compare the use of a drug to see how well it binds to the receptor
Describe what Ki represents?
- The concentrating of the repeating ligand to displace the 50% of the specific binding of the original normal ligand (radio ligand)
- Gives an estimate of affinity as assay conditions affect it such as the concentration of the radio ligand
What are the three factors that make a drug selective or not?
- Ability activate the receptor –potency and efficacy
- Where the drug binds to the receptor (may be multiple biding sites)
- Tissue selectivity (can the drug get to where the receptor is?)