Pharmacodynamics Flashcards
How do endogenous and exogenous ligands exert their effects?
By binding to targets
Usually proteins
(some exceptions antimicrobial/antitumour bind to DNA)
Molecular targets for drugs (5)
GPCR Other e.g. Enzymes, DNA, Integrins, transporters Ion channels Nuclear receptors Kinases
What are gpcr regulated by? (5)
Light, odorants, hormones, neurotransmitters, ions
What receptors do not have identified ligands?
What do they act as?
Orphan receptors - potential drug targets
Most GPCR’s are
Olfactory receptors (smell)
Examples of Therapeutic ligands targeting GPCRs (3)
Bisoprolol fumarate (hypertension, angina - B1 antagonist)
Salbutamol (Asthma, B2 agonist)
Co-codamol (u-opioid receptor, pain relief)
Top prescribed drug targeting protein (not a GPCR ligand)
Atorvastatin (HMG CoA reductase inhibitor - lower cholesterol)
What determines drug action?
Concentration (molarity) of drug molecules surrounding receptor
What is molarity?
How do you work it out?
Moles per litre of solution
g/L divided by Molecular weight
g/L =
Molecular weight x molarity
Different useful prefixes for concentrations (5)
Molar Millimolar (10^-3) mM Micromolar (10^-6) µM Nanomolar (10^-9) nM Picomolar (10^-12) pM
Why is molarity important?
Can have less molecules than another chemical but same concentration
Why do we need to consider drug concentrations in molarity?
Concentration of drug molecules around receptor is critical in determining action
What is binding governed by?
How do most drugs bind to receptors?
Association and disassociation (most bind reversibly)
What law does binding obey?
Law of mass action
velocity of reaction depends on concentration of reactants
How do drugs work?
Agonist - activate receptor
Antagonist - Block binding of endogenous agonist
How do ligands bind to receptors?
Must have affinity
Binding is governed by affinity
(high = stronger binding)
What do antagonists do?
They do not cause receptor to do anything:
JUST BLOCK AGONIST from binding
What is receptor activation governed by?
Intrinsic efficacy
What is intrinsic efficacy?
Ability of a agonist to generate active form of receptor via conformational change
Active form = R*
How is an active receptor represented?
R*
What do agonists have to have to be effective? Vs what antagonists have to have?
Agonists need affinity and efficacy (have to activate)
Antagonists need affinity ONLY
What happens after intrinsic efficacy?
Cell/tissue dependent factors to evoke response
Lock and key affinity and efficacy
Affinity is key fitting in lock
Efficacy is key being able to turn lock and unlock door
What determines overall efficacy (NOT intrinsic)
Intrinsic efficacy and cell/tissue dependent factors
Pharmacological efficacy vs clinical efficacy
Pharmacological: intrinsic efficacy and cell/tissue dependent factors
Clinical: how well does treatment succeed? ie Does it lower blood pressure
How do we measure binding?
Radioactively labelled ligand
Incubate radioligand and receptors
Separate bound and free and measure BOUND
Binding graph
proportion of bound receptors over drug concentration
Bmax - max binding capacity
Kd - disassociation constant
What is Kd?
Disassociation constant
Concentration of ligand required to occupy 50% of receptors
Index of affinity
Low value = high affinity as not much drug needed for 50% binding
How else can affinity be determined?
Ka