From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia.
- for muscle type see
Agonist (muscle)
An agonist is a
substance that binds to a
receptor and triggers a
response in the
cell. An agonist is the
opposite of an
antagonist in the sense that
while an antagonist also binds to
the receptor, it fails to activate
the receptor and actually blocks
it from activation by agonists. A
partial agonist activates a
receptor but does not cause as
much of a physiological change as
does a full agonist. The
receptors of the human body work
by being stimulated or inhibited
by natural (such as
hormones and
neurotransmitters) or
synthetic (such as
drugs) agonists and
antagonists. Recently a novel
theory called
Functional Selectivity has
been proposed that broadens the
conventional definition of
pharmacology.
Etymology
Stems from the Late Latin word
agnista, 'contender', from
the Greek agonistis,
'contestant', from agon,
'contest'. An agonist is a
chemical contestant or contender.
