Question

f you were asked to design drugs which acted as selective antagonists of the dopamine receptor, what structures might you consider synthesizing

Answer 1

Synthesis of artificial receptor antagonists requires the information regarding topological surface of the receptor. Technically, a cell surface receptor represents a protein whose topological surface bears a structural identity to its ligand. Whenever the ligand proximates and binds to the receptor, it activates the receptor and brings about an intracellular change in signal transduction. Thus, in order to develop a receptor antagonist, the surface features or the topological details of the receptor must be known.

To be specific, the nature of bonds formed between the receptor surface and its ligand, any protruding branch chain, structural deviation etc must be considered prior synthesizing any angatonist.