Erratum to: Drug-Receptor Interactions

Abstract

It is commonly accepted today that drugs, hormones, or other small molecules that gain access to biological systems bring about their effects by interacting with macromolecules present in the biological system. These macromolecules can then be assigned the term “receptor” for that particular small molecule. Sometimes the assignment of receptors for drugs can be quite straightforward, as in the case of organophosphate insecticides. These agents are enzyme inhibitors, chemically reacting with serine residues in a number of esterase enzymes. The enzymes associated with the hydrolysis of acetylcholine are therefore receptors for organophosphates, and the pharmacological and toxicological effects of these agents can be explained, virtually entirely, by the interaction of the organophosphate with these enzymes.

The online version of the original chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7793-1_3