[Modeling of hormonal receptors. Application to drug design]

A number of three-dimensional models of serotonin receptor recognition sites which were derived from a conformational analysis of their ligands and successfully used for drug design are reviewed. Models of the complete three-dimensional structure of sequenced G-protein coupled receptors are defined from primary sequence analysis, published experimental data, the crystal structure of bacteriorhodopsin and energy minimizations. Adrenaline, serotonin, dopamine and acetylcholine can thus be docked in their respective binding sites. There is an excellent convergence between the two approaches: modelling of the recognition site from its ligands and modelling of the receptor from its primary sequence.