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    The adrenergic receptors (or adrenoceptors) are a class of G protein-coupled receptors that are targets of the catecholamines. Adrenergic receptors specifically bind their endogenous ligands, the catecholamines adrenaline and noradrenaline (also called epinephrine and norepinephrine in the USA), and are activated by these.

    Many cells possess these receptors, and the binding of an agonist will generally cause the cell to respond in a fight-or-flight manner. For instance, the heart rate will increase and the pupils will dilate, energy will be mobilized, and blood flow diverted from other organs to skeletal muscle.


        Adrenergic receptor
            Subtypes of adrenergic receptors
            Comparison
            Diagram

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    Subtypes of adrenergic receptors
    There are several types of adrenergic receptors, but there are two main groups: α-Adrenergic and β-Adrenergic.
      α receptors bind norepinephrine and epinephrine, though norepinephrine has higher affinity. Phenylephrine is a selective agonist of the α receptor.
      β receptors are linked to Gs proteins, which in turn are linked to adenylyl cyclase. Agonist binding thus causes a rise in the intracellular concentration of the second messenger cAMP. Downstream effectors of cAMP include cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), which mediates some of the intracellular events following hormone binding.

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    Comparison


    The absence of "ADRA1C" is intentional. At one time, there was a subtype known as C, but was found to be one of the previously discovered subtypes. To avoid confusion, it was decided that there would never be a C subtype again and so if any new subtypes were discovered, naming would start with E.

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    Diagram





    protein signal transduction (epinephrin pathway).png|thumb|400px|Epinephrin binds its receptor, that associates with an heterotrimeric G protein. The G protein associates with adenilate cyclase that converts ATP to cAMP, spreading the signal (http://www.pdb.org/pdb/static.do?p=education_discussion/molecule_of_the_month/pdb58_1.html more details...)

     
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    Scientus.org Dictionary (Yet Another Wiki) RC : 1.39
    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License [copyleft]. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Adrenergic receptor". link