Agonists activating hypothetical receptors
Agonists activating hypothetical receptors

An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an antagonist blocks the action of the agonist, while an inverse agonist causes an action opposite to that of the agonist.



Types of agonists

Receptors can be activated by either endogenous agonists (such as hormones and neurotransmitters) or exogenous agonists (such as drugs), resulting in a biological response. A physiological agonist is a substance that creates the same bodily responses but does not bind to the same receptor.

New findings that broaden the conventional definition of pharmacology demonstrate that ligands can concurrently behave as agonist and antagonists at the same receptor, depending on effector pathways or tissue type. Terms that describe this phenomenon are "functional selectivity", "protean agonism",[5][6][7] or selective receptor modulators.[8]

Mechanism of Action

As mentioned above, agonists have the potential to bind in different locations and in different ways depending on the type of agonist and the type of receptor.[9] The process of binding is unique to the receptor-agonist relationship, but binding induces a conformational change and activates the receptor.[9][10] This conformational change is often the result of small changes in charge or changes in protein folding when the agonist is bound.[10][11] Two examples that demonstrate this process are the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor and NMDA receptor and their respective agonists.

Simplified depiction of the mechanism of an agonist binding to a GCPR.

For the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor, which is a G protein-coupled receptor[10](GPCR), the endogenous agonist is acetylcholine. The binding of this neurotransmitter causes the conformational changes that propagate a signal into the cell.[10] The conformational changes are the primary effect of the agonist, and are related to the agonist's binding affinity and agonist efficacy.[9][12] Other agonists that bind to this receptor will fall under one of the different categories of agonist mentioned above based on their specific binding affinity and efficacy.

Simplified depiction of co-agonists activating a receptor.
Simplified depiction of co-agonists activating a receptor.

The NMDA receptor is an example of an alternate mechanism of action, as the NMDA receptor requires co-agonists for activation. Rather than simply requiring a single specific agonist, the NMDA receptor requires both the endogenous agonists, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and glycine.[11] These co-agonists are both required to induce the conformational change needed for the NMDA receptor to allow flow through the ion channel, in this case calcium.[11] An aspect demonstrated by the NMDA receptor is that the mechanism or response of agonists can be blocked by a variety of chemical and biological factors.[11] NMDA receptors specifically are blocked by a magnesium ion unless the cell is also experiencing depolarization.[11]

These differences show that agonists have unique mechanisms of action depending on the receptor activated and the response needed.[9][10] The goal and process remains generally consistent however, with the primary mechanism of action requiring the binding of the agonist and the subsequent changes in conformation to cause the desired response at the receptor.[9][12] This response as discussed above can vary from allowing flow of ions to activating a GPCR and transmitting a signal into the cell.[9][10]


Efficacy spectrum of receptor ligands.
Efficacy spectrum of receptor ligands.


Potency is the amount of agonist needed to elicit a desired response. The potency of an agonist is inversely related to its EC50 value. The EC50 can be measured for a given agonist by determining the concentration of agonist needed to elicit half of the maximum biological response of the agonist. The EC50 value is useful for comparing the potency of drugs with similar efficacies producing physiologically similar effects. The smaller the EC50 value, the greater the potency of the agonist, the lower the concentration of drug that is required to elicit the maximum biological response.

Therapeutic index


See also


  2. ^ De Mey JGR, Compeer MG, Meens MJ (2009). "Endothelin-1, an Endogenous Irreversible Agonist in Search of an Allosteric Inhibitor". Mol Cell Pharmacol. 1 (5): 246–257.
  3. ^ Rosenbaum DM, Zhang C, Lyons JA, Holl R, Aragao D, Arlow DH, et al. (January 2011). "Structure and function of an irreversible agonist-β(2) adrenoceptor complex". Nature. 469 (7329): 236–240. Bibcode:2011Natur.469..236R. doi:10.1038/nature09665. PMC 3074335. PMID 21228876.
  4. ^ DeWire SM, Yamashita DS, Rominger DH, Liu G, Cowan CL, Graczyk TM, et al. (March 2013). "A G protein-biased ligand at the μ-opioid receptor is potently analgesic with reduced gastrointestinal and respiratory dysfunction compared with morphine". The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 344 (3): 708–717. doi:10.1124/jpet.112.201616. PMID 23300227. S2CID 8785003.
  5. ^ Kenakin T (March 2001). "Inverse, protean, and ligand-selective agonism: matters of receptor conformation". FASEB Journal. 15 (3): 598–611. CiteSeerX doi:10.1096/fj.00-0438rev. PMID 11259378. S2CID 18260817.
  7. ^ De Min A, Matera C, Bock A, Holze J, Kloeckner J, Muth M, et al. (April 2017). "A New Molecular Mechanism To Engineer Protean Agonism at a G Protein-Coupled Receptor". Molecular Pharmacology. 91 (4): 348–356. doi:10.1124/mol.116.107276. PMID 28167741.
  8. ^ Smith CL, O'Malley BW (February 2004). "Coregulator function: a key to understanding tissue specificity of selective receptor modulators". Endocrine Reviews. 25 (1): 45–71. doi:10.1210/er.2003-0023. PMID 14769827.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Colquhoun D (January 2006). "Agonist-activated ion channels". British Journal of Pharmacology. 147 (S1): S17–S26. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706502. PMC 1760748. PMID 16402101.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Kruse AC, Ring AM, Manglik A, Hu J, Hu K, Eitel K, et al. (December 2013). "Activation and allosteric modulation of a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor". Nature. 504 (7478): 101–106. Bibcode:2013Natur.504..101K. doi:10.1038/nature12735. PMC 4020789. PMID 24256733.
  11. ^ a b c d e Zhu S, Stein RA, Yoshioka C, Lee CH, Goehring A, Mchaourab HS, Gouaux E (April 2016). "Mechanism of NMDA Receptor Inhibition and Activation". Cell. 165 (3): 704–714. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2016.03.028. PMC 4914038. PMID 27062927.
  12. ^ a b Strange PG (April 2008). "Agonist binding, agonist affinity and agonist efficacy at G protein-coupled receptors". British Journal of Pharmacology. 153 (7): 1353–1363. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707672. PMC 2437915. PMID 18223670.