Drug targets
Biological targets: the receptors, enzymes, ion channels, transporters and pathways that medicines act on. Each page explains what the target does in the body, where it is found, which medicines and drug classes act on it and which physiology and conditions it connects to. The bridge between a medicine and the anatomy it changes.
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A
Angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor
The receptor through which angiotensin II constricts arteries, releases aldosterone and drives the thickening of heart and vessel walls. Angiotensin receptor…
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)
The enzyme on the surface of blood-vessel lining cells, above all in the lungs, that converts inactive angiotensin I into angiotensin II and also breaks down…
B
Bacterial ribosome (50S subunit)
The protein-making machinery of bacteria, built differently enough from the human ribosome to be a selective drug target. Macrolides such as azithromycin bind…
Beta-1 adrenergic receptor
The receptor in heart muscle and the heart's pacemaker tissue through which adrenaline and noradrenaline speed the heart and strengthen its contraction. Beta…
Beta-2 adrenergic receptor
The receptor on airway smooth muscle through which adrenaline relaxes the bronchi. Salbutamol and other beta-2 agonists stimulate it to open the airways in…
C
Cyclo-oxygenase 1 (COX-1)
The 'housekeeping' form of cyclo-oxygenase, present all the time in platelets, the stomach lining and the kidney. It makes the thromboxane that lets platelets…
Cyclo-oxygenase 2 (COX-2)
The inducible form of cyclo-oxygenase, switched on at sites of injury and inflammation and in the brain during fever. Its prostaglandins sensitise pain nerves,…
F
G
Gastric proton pump (H+/K+ ATPase)
The enzyme in the stomach's parietal cells that pumps acid into the stomach as the final step of acid secretion. Proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole…
Glucocorticoid receptor
The receptor inside almost every cell through which cortisol, and corticosteroid medicines such as prednisolone and inhaled beclometasone, switch inflammatory…
H
Hepatic glucose production (gluconeogenesis)
The liver's manufacture and release of glucose between meals, from lactate, amino acids and glycerol. In type 2 diabetes this output runs too high; metformin's…
Histamine H1 receptor
The receptor through which histamine, released from mast cells in an allergic reaction, causes itching, sneezing, a runny nose, swelling and hives.…
HMG-CoA reductase
The enzyme that controls the speed of cholesterol synthesis in the liver. Statins block it, so liver cells make less cholesterol and pull more LDL out of the…