Recombinant G-Protein-Coupled Receptors as Screening Tools for

Membrane receptors may be studied both by ligand-binding and by effector triggering. Assays to identify agonists or antagonists make use of both properties. Initial, high-throughput screening may be used to screen large combinatorial libraries of synthetic or natural compounds to identify "lead" candidates. Once purified, these leads may be assayed in second-messenger assays to differentiate agonists from antagonists.