AJP - Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol 247, Issue 1 53-E58, Copyright © 1984 by American Physiological Society
Identification and regulation of adrenergic receptors in target cells
P. A. Insel
The application of radioligand binding techniques has recently led to
increased understanding of adrenergic receptors, the recognition sites for
catecholamines on target cells. Radioligand binding is a simple technique
to conduct, although data obtained from binding studies are not always as
easy to interpret as they are to generate. Nevertheless, the goal of these
studies is to help define the molecular physiology of catecholamine action.
In this article, I address five principal questions that largely dominate
current research on adrenergic receptors. 1) How many types and subtypes of
adrenergic receptors exist? 2) What is the structure of adrenergic
receptors? 3) How is occupancy of adrenergic receptors translated to
changes in target cell response? 4) How do target cells regulate their
complement of adrenergic receptors? 5) Do alterations in adrenergic
receptors mediate altered pathophysiology in disease? Although only
preliminary answers are available, the use of radioligand binding
methodology, together with other biochemical, cell biological,
immunological, and molecular biological approaches should provide the tools
to obtain definitive answers to those questions within the near future.
