PSYC62H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Inverse Agonist, Partial Agonist, Intrinsic Activity
Document Summary
Lecture 2: principles of pharmacology: drug-receptor interactions. Receptors: large protein molecules that drugs and naturally occurring chemicals of the body act on to exert their effects. Receptors: drugs in central nervous system synapse with the terminal adjacent to the postsynaptic neuron. Receptor molecules are embedded in the postsynaptic neuron where neurotransmitter that are released will bind. Ligands: biologically active chemicals in the body (e. g. , hormones, neurotransmitters, neurohormones, etc). Ligands: the chemicals themselves are also attracted to bind to the neurotransmitter. Affinity: the ability of a compound to bind to or maintain contact with a receptor. This is known as affinity (eg: key and lock) Affinity: the drug will attach to receptor and have the effect, then disassociate. Intrinsic activity: the relative capability of a compound to activate a receptor after binding with it. Intrinsic activity: does the drug/ligand activate the drug after binding (eg: wrong key in lock has no intrinsic activity)