Fluorescent GPCR ligands as new tools in pharmacology

Abstract

The expansion of fluorescent techniques for studying the ligand-receptor interaction resulted in a burst of the novel fluorescent ligands development. The discovery of the ligand, that is of high affinity to the receptor and whose localization could be easily visualized, even on the single cell level, gave the researchers a strong impulse to investigate that field of GPCR ligands. Moreover, paying attention to the "non pharmacological" advantages of these ligands, as well as the techniques to be used, fluorescent ligands are becoming treated more seriously, as the ligands themselves, and as novel, useful tools for studying GPCRs. Herein, we review results described in the literature, starting from the year 2000, in the field of the fluorescent GPCR small, non-peptide ligands according to the affinity to the selected receptors (histamine, adenosine, adrenergic, cannabinoid, muscarinie, neuropeptide Y and serotonine) as well as the fluorophores that have been used to tag the molecules.