Week 4 - Pharmacodynamics Flashcards
Define Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the study of substances (“drugs”) that interact with living systems through chemical processes
Define Toxicology
Classically, toxicology is viewed as a branch of pharmacology that deals with adverse effects on living systems (the “science of poisons”)
All substances can under certain circumstances exert toxic effects
Define Pharmacodynamics
The actions a drug has upon the body
Pharmacologic Dogma
Receptor
Agonist
A drug produces its effect by interacting with a macromolecule within or expressed at the surface of a cell, a receptor
An “agonist” is a drug that activates molecular, biochemical, and physiological events associated with that interaction (we’ll talk about antagonists later)
Function of a receptor
- Recognition - receptor recognizes drug, the drug must fit perfectly into receptor (lock and key)
- Signal Transduction - receptor then transmits signal to cell and something happens
A drug may…
A DRUG MAY INCREASE OR DECREASE CELL FUNCTION BUT DOES NOT INITIATE NEW CELLULAR FUNCTION
Selectivity and Specificity
- Recognition imparts selectivity ofdrug binding (the drug binds one or a small number of receptor types)
- The tissue localization of different receptor types imparts specificity of drug action (the drug exerts a distinctive influence on the body)
Do you think that there are many drugs which bind covalently to their receptors? (hint: think about this of perspective of controlling drug responses, particularily when things go wrong)
True
False
False
Covalent interactions are LONG LIVED.. So drug would take receptor out perminantly..Not good if want to reverse effects. Body would have to synthesize more receptors.
Some (a very few) drugs DO bind covalently, must be very careful.
Most drugs act though weak forces and must have a very high specificity for the receptor…
Chemical Nature of receptors
- Most are proteins
- Enzymes (most)
- Ion Channels
- Structural
- Regulatory
- Nucleic acids
Transduction does what in a cell after the drug binds?
- It PROPAGTATES a signal
- Alters receptor funciton
- Generates a 2nd messenger (GMP, cAMP, etc)
- 2nd messengers may generate another messenger
- Some cases the receptor will impact gene transcription (protein synthesis of some sort)
Transduction Mechanisms
(dont need to know details on test)
G Protein-coupled Receptor Signaling
- Drug binds to G protein, then receptor dissociates through membrane and transducucts a signal to an effector
- About half of all drugs use this mechanism
- hundreds of these types in body - dont know what many of them do or what ligand binds to them
Ligand gated Ion Channel
- Ligand binds and opens up ion channel, can cause depolorization of membrane
Receptors as Enzymes
- Once ligand (drug) binds to the receptor it acts as an enzyme to phosphorylize or dephosphorylize
Receptors mediating Nuclear Transcritpion
- Steroid hormones act on these
- These are in cytoplasm or nucleus (rest are membrane bound)
Attributes of receptor - mediated processes
(this will be on test)
- Highly compartmentalized - some located on cell membrane, some in cytoplasm
- Self-limiting on relatively short time scales - so when a G-protein receptor is activated they initiaiate their own deactivation very quickly.. ion channels will close back up very quickly
- Organized into opposing systems - pathway for upregulatiing something, there will also be a pathway to downregulate somethign. Phosphorilization, dephosphylization
- Provide opportunities for signal amplification - The signal can get amplified very quickly from a very breif interaction of drug and receptor
- Operate through a relatively small number of 2nd messenger systems - The total number of receptors GREATLY out numbers the 2nd messenger systems** A drug interacts with receptors but there are many many other receptors and indogenous ligands acting at the same time
Many drug-drug interactions can be explained by this distingcit attribute of receptor mediate biologica processes. Which is responsible for this phenominon?
Receptor based processes tend to be organized into opposing systems
Receptor medicated processes tend to be highly compartmentalized
decrease in receptor numbe ofgen occurs over time in response to sustained stimulation of the system
A large number of different receptors may operat through a much smaller number of 2nd messenger systems
Teh response of a receptor to a logan generally long lived due to the self perpetuation nature of these systems
**A - True - Opposing systems, special case of D (good response) **
B - true - but no opportunity for drug-drug interactions
C- true - tolerance but not a drug drug interaction
D - True - (good response)
E - false
Drug-drug interaction questions will be on exam**
What important groups of drugs that do not interact with receptors?
- Drugs interact chemically with small molecules - EDTA, dimercaprol
- Drugs producing physicochemical effects – mannitol, antacids, volatile anesthetics, compounds that impact pH etc
- Drugs that target rapidly dividing cells -
Cell cycle - specific drugs: target cells that are dividing
- Toxic to cells that are cycling (dividing or preparing to divide)
- Includes structural analogs of endogenous compounds (“antimetabolites”) that act by interfering with DNA/RNA synthesis – e.g., methotrexate, 6-mercaptopurine, 5-fluorouracil
- Others bind to DNA causing strand breaks – e.g., the antibiotic bleomycin
- Still others target the cellular machinery needed for cell division – e.g., vinblastine (a plant alkaloid), which inhibits tubulin polymerization
Cell cycle-nonspecific drugs: resting or cycling cells are the targets (Non receptor mediated mechanisms)
- Toxic to cells that are cycling as well as cells that are resting (G0)
- Many damage and/or bind to DNA interfering with normal cell function
- Examples include alkylating agents (e.g., nitrosoureas) and some antibiotics (e.g., doxorubicin)
Occupancy Theory - What does it assume?
Effect of drug is proportional to receptor occupancy*
….and that these interactions are monovalent (one receptor binds to one ligand)*
(law of mass action explains this)
What is teh occupancy theory at equilibrium?
Association Rate
Dissociation Rate
At equilibrium
x is molar concentration of drug
r is molar concentration of receptor
rx is product
k1 and k2 are constants
Kd - ratio of on rate constant to off rate constant (units are concentration)
Know this equation**
Deriving occupancy theory at equilibrium…
Fractional occupancy rx/rt
Deriving occupancy theory at equilibrium…
Assume response (or effect E) is proportional to RECEPTOR OCCUPANCY
So.. fraction of total responase is equal to fraction of total occupied.. assume that system responds at HALF maximal action… then we get that concentration of drug is equal to Kd. (dissociation constant)
This is called the EC50, concentration of drug that produces half maximal response* it is equal to Kd
Explaine a Dose-Response Curve
Plot of dose against response…
Plotted are both log dose and dose (log dose is on left) makes it easier to get EC50 much easier.
Define Affinity, how does it effect the Log-Dose Curve?
- Ability to form complex with receptor
- Characterized as 1/KD
- The greater the affinity the lower the drug concentration required to produce an effect
- Basis of receptor classification
Kd for X is much lower than the Kc for Y - so X has a much HIGHER affinity for receptor that drug Y
Define Potency
Potency - relative position of dose-response curve
Drug X is more potent than Drug Y because it takes LESS of drug X to elicit a response
Efficacy or Intrinsic Activity
Full Agonist (X)
Partial Agonist (Z)
How do this effect the log-dose curve?
Efficacy or Intrinsic Activity
- Capacity to produce response
Full Agonist (X)
- Maximal Response
- Has full efficacy (alpha = 1)
Partial Agonist (Z)
- Produces less than maximal response
- Has partial efficacy (1>alpha>0)
*Alpha is term to define efficacy, 1 is full effacacy, 0 is no efficacy
So - we want to know what affinity is and efficacy is***
