Agonist induction, conformational selection, and mutant receptors

Current models of receptor activation are based on either of two basic mechanisms: agonist induction or conformational selection. The importance of one pathway relative to the other is controversial. In this article, the impossibility of distinguishing between the two mechanisms under a thermodynamic approach is shown. The effect of receptor mutation on the constants governing ligand-receptor equilibria is discussed. The two-state model of agonism both in its original formulation (one cycle) and including multiple active states (multiple cycles) is used. Pharmacological equations for the double (two cycles) two-state model are derived. The simulations performed suggest that the double two-state model of agonism can be a useful model for assessing quantitatively the changes in pharmacological activity following receptor mutation. © 2003 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.