AGONIST

Agonist

An agonist is a chemical that binds to some receptor of a cell and triggers a response by that cell. Agonists often mimic the action of a naturally occurring substance. Whereas an agonist causes an action, an antagonist blocks the action of the agonist and an inverse agonist causes an action opposite to that of the agonist.

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agonist

Noun

  1. Someone involved in a contest or battle (as in an agon).
  2. The muscle that contracts while the other relaxes.
    "when bending the elbow the biceps are the agonist"
  3. A molecule that can combine with a receptor on a cell to produce a physiological reaction.
    "acetylcholine is an agonist at the a cholinergic receptor"


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: agonist
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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