What Is Molecular Pharmacology?

Molecular pharmacology is an emerging discipline, which is the intersection of molecular biology and pharmacology. The biggest difference from traditional pharmacology is that molecular pharmacology is to explain the mechanism of drug action from the perspective of molecular level and gene expression. The development of life sciences ranges from macro to micro, and the development of pharmacology also extends from the overall level, the organ level, and the tissue level to the cell level and the molecular level. Molecular pharmacology is the mainstream of pharmacology at present. Its theory and practical application not only penetrate into various fields of pharmacology, but also penetrate into other basic medicine, clinical medicine and pharmacy. The theory and research technology of molecular biology has greatly promoted the development of molecular pharmacology; in the past half century, molecular pharmacology has achieved good results in the research of receptors, enzyme systems, ion channels, biologically active substances The study of the mechanism of drug action has also penetrated into the molecular level, providing an important basis for the design of new drugs. ^[1]

Molecular pharmacology is an emerging discipline, which is the intersection of molecular biology and pharmacology. The biggest difference from traditional pharmacology is that molecular pharmacology is to explain the mechanism of drug action from the perspective of molecular level and gene expression. The development of life sciences ranges from macro to micro, and the development of pharmacology also extends from the overall level, the organ level, and the tissue level to the cell level and the molecular level. Molecular pharmacology is the mainstream of pharmacology at present. Its theory and practical application not only penetrate into various fields of pharmacology, but also penetrate into other basic medicine, clinical medicine and pharmacy. The theory and research technology of molecular biology has greatly promoted the development of molecular pharmacology; in the past half century, molecular pharmacology has achieved good results in the research of receptors, enzyme systems, ion channels, biologically active substances The study of the mechanism of drug action has also penetrated into the molecular level, providing an important basis for the design of new drugs. ^[1]

Book title

Molecular pharmacology

Author

Wang Xuelin

ISBN

9787506743969

Fixed price

$ 78.00

Publishing house

China Medical Science and Technology Press

date of publish

2011-6-1

Open

16K

Molecular Pharmacology I. Proposal of Molecular Pharmacology

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After searching the PubMed database, the term molecular pharmacology was first proposed in 1956. After the DNA double helix structure was proposed in 1953, the literature basically identified molecular pharmacology as studying drug-receptor interactions. Science of Interactions of one or two compounds with one receptor system. In 1965, an international journal entitled Molecular Pharmacology was created with the theme of molecular pharmacology. The journal's acceptance scope is novel insight into the molecular mechanisms of protein function, drug action, or selective toxicity. In 2012, Elsevier Science published the second edition of Molecular Pharmacology. In 2013, Wiley-Blackwell published the textbook of Molecular Pharmacology for senior and graduate students of the School of Biological Medicine.

After searching the CNKI database, as early as 1963, Mr. Wang Zhengang explicitly introduced the term "molecular pharmacology" in China, explaining molecular pharmacology as "on the basis of molecular biology and molecular enzymology, studying drugs and organisms at the molecular level To study the interaction between them, to study the chemical structure and pharmacological effects, especially the relationship between the three-dimensional structure of drug molecules and biological activity. " According to the network definition of Medical Encyclopedia, molecular pharmacology is "science that clarifies from the molecular level how small biologically active drugs interact with biological macromolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and receptors on membranes to produce corresponding pharmacological effects. Its content Includes pharmaceutical stereochemistry, electrochemical and structural parameters, receptor function and conformational analysis, drug interactions with enzymes or other biological macromolecules, drug effects on DNA gene replication, transcription and translation levels, antibiotics and other growth inhibitors Studies on mechanism of action, structural changes or allosteric transitions of biomacromolecules caused by drugs, effects of hormones or drugs on cell regulatory mechanisms, effects of drugs on membrane function, etc. " The book "Molecular Pharmacology" published by Science Press in 2015 also briefly defined molecular pharmacology as "a discipline that studies drugs and their targets at the molecular level." Therefore, although the concept of molecular pharmacology has not yet been finalized, it can basically be determined as a discipline that studies the interaction between drugs and biological macromolecules at the molecular level.

Molecular pharmacology II. The main content and characteristics of molecular pharmacology research

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The core content of molecular pharmacology is the mechanism of drug action, that is, how the drug molecule interacts with the target (including space-time relationship). Its research content also includes content related to the mechanism of action, such as secondary changes in molecular level after the interaction between drug molecules and targets, such as second messengers and changes in gene expression regulation (molecular level activity); how biological macromolecules transport drug molecules , How to transform drug molecules (molecular pharmacokinetics); how the body's genotype and phenotype affect the role of drugs (pharmacogenomics), etc.

A significant feature of molecular pharmacology is that the research object must involve the corresponding biological macromolecules, so molecular biology techniques (such as molecular cloning, Western blot, etc.) and methods and techniques for analyzing and detecting the structure or function of biological macromolecules are often used ( Such as macromolecular mass spectrometry, MRI, X-ray crystallography, etc.).

Molecular pharmacology III. The connection and difference between molecular pharmacology and classical pharmacology

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The content of "pharmaceutical effect on the body" in the concept of classical pharmacology has been differentiated into "pharmacokinetics", so the narrow content of classical pharmacology is mainly "pharmacodynamics". Pharmacodynamics serves the clinic, so its subject knowledge is holistic. Because it directly serves the clinic, the content of classic pharmacology is mainly classified according to the selectivity of drug action.

Molecular pharmacology is the science that studies the interactions between drug molecules and macromolecules at the molecular level. It is a deep-level pharmacology. Therefore, molecular pharmacology does not directly serve the clinic, but rather serves pharmacology research and new drug development , Explain the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions. Therefore, molecular pharmacology should be more inclined to classify and describe according to the type of target.

Because in the framework of classic pharmacology, molecular pharmacology must also follow the classic pharmacology such as the S-curve law of dose-effect curve, the law of receptor up-regulation and down-regulation, and the design principles of pharmacological experiments. Similarly, research at the molecular level must be supported by pharmacology at the cellular, tissue, and organ level. Otherwise there is no meaning of "medicine". Therefore, molecular pharmacology is a further development of classical pharmacology, and the two complement each other and support each other.

Molecular Pharmacology IV. The Position of Molecular Pharmacology in Biomedicine

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In pharmacy, chemistry accounts for a large proportion. As mentioned earlier, pharmacology is the bridge between pharmacy and medicine. Pharmacology is a science that studies the interaction between drugs and the body. The interaction between them must occur at the molecular level. However, since classical pharmacology focuses on the effects of the overall level and the level of system organs, classical pharmacology can only be applied. Connecting pharmacy and medicine cannot achieve effective docking of pharmacy and medicine at the molecular level. The introduction of molecular pharmacology can make up for this shortcoming of classical pharmacology and achieve seamless docking.

Similarly, classical pharmacology has this deficiency as a bridge between basic medicine and clinical science. The physiological and biochemical reactions and pathological changes mentioned in basic medicine are all based on molecules, and only through molecular pharmacology can the basic medicine and clinical medicine be connected in the prevention and treatment of drugs.