Cellular Regulation 2

Question 1

define half life

Answer 1

time required for Cmax drug plasma concentration to decrease by one half (by 50%)

Question 2

what are the 6 major receptor types?

Answer 2

1. G-protein
2. Ion channels
3. Nuclear receptors
4. Intracellular enzyme
5. Transmembrane enzyme
6. Transmembrane non enzyme

Question 3

define receptor affinity

Answer 3

strength/length of binding

Question 4

define drug efficacy

Answer 4

degree to which a drug induces maximum therapeutic effect

i.e. a drugs effectiveness

Question 5

define potency

Answer 5

strength of a drug

how much of a drug is required to cause therapeutic effect

Question 6

define agonists

Answer 6

primary agonists extensively and successfully bind to existing receptors to mimic endogenous substances

Question 7

define partial agonists

Answer 7

bind to receptors and mimic endogenous substance but at a lower efficacy

max. response is smaller even when all receptors are occupied

Question 8

define inverse agonists

Answer 8

substances that bind to receptors and induce the opposite effect of the naturally binding substance

e.g. caffeine

Question 9

define antagonists

Answer 9

drug blocks the reeptor site to prevent endogenous or endogenous-like substances from binding

have no efficacy as they cause no other change, just block receptors