Textbook of Receptor Pharmacology

For the past four decades, University College London has offered a renowned course on receptor pharmacology. Originating from this course, the perennially bestselling Textbook of Receptor Pharmacology has presented in-depth coverage of this rapidly expanding area of research. This third edition continues to combine current understanding of classical quantitative pharmacology and drug-receptor interactions with the basics of receptor structure and signal transduction mechanisms, providing an integrated analysis of the mechanisms of drug action at membrane receptors.

The hallmark of this popular text is the uniting of four major approaches to the study of receptors:

• Molecular investigation of receptor structure
• Quantitative functional studies of agonists and antagonists
• Ligand binding
• Signal transduction at the cell membrane

Maintaining the second edition’s focus on cell membrane receptors and the immediate signal transduction events at the membrane, this edition includes updated chapters on receptor structure and signal transduction by G-proteins and tyrosine kinases as well as enhancements to the quantitative treatment of drug-receptor interactions. Several chapters contain problems and worked-out solutions, giving students the ability to test their comprehension of the material. Hundreds of diagrams and figures further enhance the text.

A time-saving resource and comprehensive learning tool, Textbook of Receptor Pharmacology, Third Edition carries on the tradition of providing in-depth, up-to-date coverage of this critical area that is both fundamental to the science of pharmacology and on the cutting edge of new drug development.

John C. Foreman, Ph.D., D.Sc., M.B., B.S., F.R.C.P., is emeritus professor of pharmacology at University College London. His research interests have included the role of bradykinin receptors in the human nasal airway, the control of microvascular circulation in human skin, and the mechanism of activation of dendritic cells. He has published reviews, contributions to books, and 170 research papers.

Torben Johansen, M.D., Dr. Med. Sci. is a docent of pharmacology at the University of Southern Denmark. He has published 70 research papers in refereed journals. His current major research interests are N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the stubstantia nigra in relation to cell death in Parkinson’s disease and also ion transport and signaling in mast cells in relation to intracellular pH and volume regulation.

Alasdair Gibb, B.Sc., Ph.D., is reader in pharmacology at University College London. He currently leads the General and Advanced Receptor Theory Workshop of the British Pharmacological Society Diploma in Pharmacology and is a course leader on the British Pharmacological Society short course on Translational Pharmacology.