The mathematics of drug-receptor interactions

Abstract

MOST pharmacological observations support the hypothesis that drugs produce their effects by interacting in a specific way with some component of the living cell. This component, which is likely to be either an enzyme or a site on a cell membrane, is called the receptor. Substances which act on receptors may be classified as agonists, which produce an observable response from a tissue, or as antagonists, which do not themselves produce an observable response but prevent the response to agonists. The concept of specific receptors is supported mainly by the ability of some antagonists to block selectively the response of tissues to certain agonists.