Eicosanoid pharmacological properties

The purpose of the present chapter is to provide an overview of these distinct and complementary roles of the arachidonate cascade, intracellular and transcellular. We will first consider a series of messenger functions that arachidonate metabolites may serve within cells. We will turn next to the transport mechanisms used by the eicosanoids to exit cells and to gain access to transmembrane receptors present on the surface of cells nearby. Finally, we will briefly discuss the molecular structures of the eicosanoid receptors, their transduction mechanisms and some of their physiological and pharmacological properties. 

The eicosanoids act in an autocrine and paracrine fashion. These ligands bind to receptors on the cell surface, and pharmacologic specificity is determined by receptor density and type on different cells. A number of the membrane receptors and their subtypes have been cloned. All of these receptors appear to be G protein-linked properties of the best-studied receptors are listed in Table 18-1. 

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