Title: Molecular and Regulatory Properties of Adrenergic Receptors
Abstract: This chapter discusses the classification of adrenergic receptors and effectors, nature of the adrenergic receptors, and assessment of the activating function of isolated receptors. Receptors are the first step in the response of a target cell to a hormone or a drug. Thus, it is not surprising that receptor function might be dynamically regulated. Two distinct mechanisms of regulation can be envisaged. First, the number of receptors present in the plasma membrane of a target cell can be modulated. For the adrenergic receptors, a wide variety of agonists, antagonists, and hormones can increase or decrease the number of cell surface adrenergic receptors. These effects likely involve altered rates of synthesis or degradation of the plasma membrane receptors. This type of regulation may be related to long-term regulation of hormone responsiveness. A second mechanism for regulation of receptor function is the modulation of the activating function of a receptor (the ability of a receptor to elicit activation of an effector system) by covalent modification. This may contribute more to the acute regulation of responsiveness of a target tissue.
Publication Year: 1987
Publication Date: 1987-01-01
Language: en
Type: review
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 38
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