There have been updated models of receptor and ligand interaction. A big one that pharmacologists would point to is conformational selection, in which the receptor is constantly flipping between active, intermediate, and inactive states, even without a ligand. The presence of a ligand stabilizes the receptor into the active state until the ligand and receptor disassociate. There's a lot of cool quantum effects and such if you really get into the weeds with some of the PPI theories.
operationarclightII t1_jbucuu4 wrote
Reply to comment by -Metacelsus- in What exactly is going on when a protein (or other molecule) binds with a receptor? by Eat-A-Torus
There have been updated models of receptor and ligand interaction. A big one that pharmacologists would point to is conformational selection, in which the receptor is constantly flipping between active, intermediate, and inactive states, even without a ligand. The presence of a ligand stabilizes the receptor into the active state until the ligand and receptor disassociate. There's a lot of cool quantum effects and such if you really get into the weeds with some of the PPI theories.