Molecular Pharmacology, Vol 5, 420-424, Copyright © 1969 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies of Drug-Receptor Interactions

The Binding of Epinephrine to Isolated Mouse Liver Cells

¹ Department of Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510

Using a technique based on the relaxation phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance, the interaction of a drug and its receptor site has been directly observed in an intact cellular system. The NMR spectrum of epinephrine is altered by the presence of liver cells in a manner characteristic of a binding interaction. The spectral changes permit certain conclusions to be drawn about time nature of the binding. Dichloroisoproterenol, a beta-adrenergic blocking agent, competitively inhibits the changes in the epinephrine spectrum while its own spectrum exhibits evidence of binding.

Note:
ACKNOWLEDGMENT We would like to thank Dr. Catherine Rappaport for help in preparing the isolated liver cells.