receptor, molecule, generally a protein, that receives signals for a cell. Small molecules, such as hormones outside the cell or second messengers inside the cell, bind tightly and specifically to their receptors. Binding is a critical element in effecting a cellular response to a signal and is influenced by a cell’s ability to express only certain receptor genes.

Molecules that bind to receptors, called ligands, can function as agonists, which stimulate the receptor to transmit signal information, or as antagonists, which inhibit, or prevent, the receptor from transmitting information. Antagonists can compete with agonists and thereby block an agonist’s action. As therapeutic agents, both agonists and antagonists have been useful. For example, the hormone adrenaline (epinephrine) increases blood pressure by activating beta-adrenergic receptors, which causes blood vessels to constrict. In contrast, antagonists called beta-blockers can be used as drugs to lower blood pressure because they inhibit the receptors, which allows blood vessels to relax.

Cells can use similar receptors for remarkably divergent activities. For example, H1-type histamine receptors in the airways contribute to allergy symptoms, whereas H2-type receptors in the stomach promote the secretion of acid. In both cases, agents that specifically block the receptors have been useful therapies.

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human nervous system: Receptors

Many different individual receptor molecules exist, and they can be expressed in a countless variety of patterns. Receptor expression is critical in determining how organisms interact with their environment. The sense of smell (olfaction) is based on small molecules in the air (odorants) binding to receptor molecules on the surface of cells in the nose. The human genome contains roughly 1,000 genes for olfactory-type receptors, which are expressed in olfactory sensory neurons. Although many of these genes are inactive, this number is remarkably large, comprising about 3 percent of the total number of genes and revealing the importance of smell for fitness in evolution. Linda Buck and Richard Axel won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2004 for their research on olfactory receptors.

While many receptors sit at the cell membrane, exposing an outer surface to bind molecules that cannot penetrate the cell, other receptors are located inside the cell and bind to hormones that pass through the cell membrane. Receptors for steroid hormones (e.g., estrogen) are among the latter group. In some types of breast cancer, the cancer cells are stimulated to grow by the action of estrogen. In these cases, the anticancer agent tamoxifen can be effective because it binds to the receptor. However, in some types of breast cancer, the cells no longer express estrogen receptors, and tamoxifen is ineffective in these individuals. Therefore, determining the “receptor status” of the cells in a breast cancer is a key element of the diagnosis. Receptor status may also influence diagnosis and treatment of certain other types of human diseases such as Alzheimer disease.