Neuropharmacology - Molecular Neuropharmacology

Molecular Neuropharmacology

Molecular neuropharmacology involves the study of neurons and their neurochemical interactions, and receptors on neurons, with the goal of developing new drugs that will treat neurological disorders such as pain, neurodegenerative diseases, and psychological disorders (also known in this case as neuropsychopharmacology). There are a few technical words that must be defined when relating neurotransmission to receptor action:

1. Agonist — a molecule that binds to a receptor protein and activates that receptor
2. Competitive antagonist — a molecule that binds to the same site on the receptor protein as the agonist, preventing activation of the receptor
3. Non-competitive antagonist — a molecule that binds to a receptor protein on a different site than that of the agonist, but causes a conformational change in the protein that does not allow activation.

The following neurotransmitter/receptor interactions can be affected by synthetic compounds that act as one of the three above. Sodium/potassium ion channels can also be manipulated throughout a neuron to induce inhibitory effects of action potentials.