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New Approaches in Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Etienne-Emile Baulieu, MD, PhD

JAMA. 1975;234(4):404-409.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

HORMONES are informational molecules. These chemical messengers must find, in the target cells, specific recognition mechanisms that will select them appropriately from all other components of the "milieu intérieur." These recognition mechanisms, which involve binding sites (r on Fig 1) of very high affinity (dissociation constant, K_D, between 0.1 and 10 nanomolar [nM], adjusted to the low concentration of hormones in the plasma) and strict (stereo) specificity, constitute the primary function of receptors. We know that the catalytic sites of enzymes also display specificity, but the affinity is 10⁴ times lower than that of the hormone-receptor binding sites, since substrates such as sugars, amino acids, or lipids are found there in higher concentration and then transformed into products. In contrast, the interaction of hormones with their receptors does not alter their chemical composition per se; it is a purely "physical" phenomenon.

Receptors

The capacity for specific binding, even . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Unité de Recherches sur le Métabolisme Moléculaire et la Physio-Pathologie des Stéroides de l'Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Département de Chimie Biologique, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Sud, Bicêtre, France.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to 78 Avenue de Général Leclerc, 94270-Kremlin-Bicêtre, France (Dr Baulieu).

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