Pharmacology: receptor binding & receptor types

Question 1

what are agonists

Answer 1

drugs that bind a receptor to give a response

Question 2

what are antagonists

Answer 2

drugs that act to block a response by either being competitive or non-competitive

Question 3

briefly describe a competitive and non-competitive antagonist

Answer 3

competitive = binding to and blocking the receptor site
non-competitive = binding to site other than receptor site and reducing affinity for the agonist

Question 4

what is affinity

Answer 4

measure of a molecules attraction to a receptor

Question 5

what is efficacy

Answer 5

the ability of a molecule to elicit a response at the receptor

Question 6

what is the potency of a drug

Answer 6

the amount required to produce an effect of given intensity

Question 7

what different receptor types are there (4)

Answer 7

ligand-gated receptor, G coupled receptor, kinase associated receptor, nuclear receptors

Question 8

give an example of a ligand-gated receptor

Answer 8

nicotinic ACh receptor

Question 9

briefly describe how a kinase associated receptor works

Answer 9

work via autophosphorylation of tyrosine residues attached to the receptor inside the cell when agonist binds

Question 10

give an example of a kinase associated receptor

Answer 10

insulin receptor

Question 11

briefly describe how a nuclear receptor works

Answer 11

located in cell nucleus
diffuse across cell membrane
act as a ligand-gated transcription factor
bring about changes in transcription to give effect

Question 12

give an example of a nuclear receptor

Answer 12

steroid receptors