How Do Medicines Work?

Credit: iStock. What we put into our bodies can affect how they function and what they do. For example, a sugary snack will probably make you feel differently than a high-protein meal. Similarly, different medicines elicit different responses in your body, and pharmacologists try to fine-tune each medicine to balance the desired (on-target) with the undesired (off-target) effects—a branch of pharmacology called pharmacodynamics. Most medicines work by binding to a molecular target, usually proteins like receptors or enzymes, and either blocking or supporting its activity, which results in their therapeutic effects. Receptors are proteins on a cell’s surface that can trigger a variety of responses inside the cell when activated. Think of receptors as a lock. Every lock has a natural key made by the body that opens it—an endogenous molecule like a hormone or neurotransmitter. Drugs or medicines that mimic the shape of the natural key and open the lock, like a hairpin someone might use to pick a lock, are called agonists. Drugs or medicines that block the lock and prevent the natural key from opening it, like a jammed lock that even its key can’t open, are antagonists. For example, allergy medicines are histamine receptor antagonists, meaning they keep histamine—the body’s natural response to an allergen—from binding and producing the allergic effect. Enzymes are biological catalysts—almost always proteins—that help convert one molecule into anot...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Being a Scientist Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Common questions Medicines Miniseries Source Type: blogs