Binding Thermodynamic Characteristics of Adenosine Receptor Ligands

Abstract

Receptor binding thermodynamics is a powerful tool to gain deep insight, at the molecular level, of the events that occur during drug-receptor interactions. This chapter focuses on the determination of thermodynamic parameters based on the van’t Hoff analysis as a traditional method to discover the enthalpic and entropic contributions during drug-receptor binding. Thermodynamic parameters of adenosine receptor ligands such as standard free energy (ΔG°), standard enthalpy (ΔH°), and standard entropy (ΔS°) are reported, discussed, and compared with those observed for other membrane receptors investigated from a thermodynamic point of view. The available thermodynamic data are evaluated in terms of two important physical phenomena, the thermodynamic discrimination and enthalpy-entropy compensation. Thermodynamic parameters obtained by means of radioligand binding studies for adenosine receptor ligands, as well as for other classes of receptors, represent relevant information to the drug design and optimization providing a benefit to the drug discovery process.