神经递质通过与细胞膜外表面的特异受体位点相结合,而产生其高度选择性作用。以往,受体研究依靠神经生理学技术,但这些方法既耗时又花钱。在这一领域中最近已取得某些重要进展,现在已能采用简单得多的生化技术测量大多数已知神经递质的受体结合情况。神经递质-受体交互作用直接测量和定量的可能性,已经为直接实验方法开辟新的研究方向,本文论述该方法的一个特殊应用,即用于药物筛选。药物-受体筛选方法的依据是,不仅神经递 Neurotransmitters produce their highly selective effects by binding to specific receptor sites on the outer surface of the cell membrane. In the past, receptor research relied on neurophysiological techniques, but these methods are both time-consuming and costly. Some important advances have recently been made in this area and it is now possible to measure the receptor binding of most known neurotransmitters using much simpler biochemical techniques. The possibility of direct measurement and quantification of neurotransmitter-receptor interactions has opened up new directions for direct experimental methods. This article discusses a particular application of this method for drug screening. Drug-receptor screening methods are based on not only neurotransmission