Benzodiazepines mechanism of action

Benzodiazepines and GABA receptors: an animation on their mechanism of action Gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) is an inhibiting neurotransmitter that is present on human brains. As shown in the animation, gamma amino butyric acid promotes opening of a postsynaptic receptor, the GABA-A receptor. This opening leads to a increased conductance to cloride ions, which […]

The coagulation cascade

Coagulation cascade: several resources (videos, animations and tutorials) depicting coagulation factors and pathways.

Animation showing the Jak-Stat signalling pathway mechanism

The Jak-Stat pathway has recently attracted researchers’ attention. This has been motivated by the fact that this pathway is a potential target of future agents for the treatment of myeloproliferative disorders such as: polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and myeloid metaplasia with myelofibrosis. The animation below depicts the Jak-Stat signalling pathway mechanism: As mentioned above, there […]

Animation: NRTIs mechanism of action

Nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) are nucleoside analogues that act as competitive inhibitors of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. As shown in the animation, these drugs compete with nucleoside triphosphates for access to reverse transcriptase. All NRTIs lack a 3-hydroxyl group; thus, their incorporation into a growing DNA chain results in its termination. They require intracytoplasmic […]

An excellent animation on the mechanisms of drug addiction

The Genetic Science Learning Center at University of Utah developed an excellent animation depicting the mechanisms of addiction of most drugs of abuse. They use a cartoon-like approach to show biochemical changes in mouse brains.

Vancomycin mechanism of action: an animation

Vancomycin is a tricyclic glycopeptide that has gained clinical importance thanks to its effectiveness against organisms such as MRSA and enterococci. It has activity against Gram-positive rods and cocci, Gram-negative rods are resistant to its bactericidal action. Some clinical uses of IV vancomycin include treatment of infective endocarditis and sepsis caused by MRSA. Since vancomycin […]

USMLE-like questions on antihypertensives

These questions from the UMKC School of Medicine have a different degree of difficulty, but are useful to review pharmacology of hypertension. Antihypertensives Item Number: 11201   correct answer: 4  category: Antihypertensives 1.   Gynecomastia, hyperkalemia, and menstrual abnormalities are potential adverse effects associated with: A.  amiloride B.  captopril C.  triamterene D.  spironolactone 1. A,B,C 2. A,C […]

Animation on histamine release and antihistamines mechanism of action

In this 3-D animation, oriented to the general public, we can see the process of histamine release by mast cell starting from the exposure to the allergen: This image shows the same process: H1 blockers are a class of widely prescribed drugs, here an excerpt of its pharmacodynamics (Source: Katzung’s Basic and Clinical Pharmacology) A. […]

P-glycoprotein: animation showing its role in chemotherapy resistance

Some introductory information about MDR1, the protein that mediates resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, from Wikipedia: P-glycoprotein (plasma gycoprotein, abbreviated as P-gp or Pgp) is a well-characterized ABC-transporter of the MDR/TAP subfamily. P-gp is also called ABCB1, ATP-binding cassette sub-family B member 1, MDR1, and PGY1. P-glycoprotein has also recently been designated CD243 (cluster of differentiation 243). […]

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