Word: receptor
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...below it. On the surface proteins, the researchers discovered, features that resemble mountaintops are actually antigens, structures that antibodies seek out and attach themselves to when attacking the virus. A "canyon" snakes between these mountaintops and is believed by scientists to be shaped specifically to fit over projections, or receptors, on the surface of human cells. The virus may use this canyon to attach itself to a receptor, like a keyhole receiving a key, before attacking the cell...
...cold. For example, a lab-made antibody designed to slide into the canyon and block it would prevent the virus from attaching to a cell. One problem with that approach, researchers say: antibodies are too large to enter the canyons. But another approach is possible, involving the key (the receptor) instead of the lock (the canyon). By developing a drug that somehow coats the receptors, scientists may prevent the virus from joining the cell...
Never mind that no one quite figured out what it was. Some people pretended that Jong was harnessing women's repressed sexual drives, that she liberated The Woman from her self-image as passive, submissive receptor for The (horny) Man. Let's face it, Erica said, women are horny too, and they're even foul and raunchy and wicked and deliciously naughty sometimes. He's OK, She's OK--so let's all deal with it and come to grips with it and relax. The happy hooker didn't cut it because she was young and beautiful; Flying's Isadora...
...discoveries also help explain narcotic addiction. Scientists speculate that under normal conditions, enkephalins bind to a certain number of receptor sites. Morphine acts to relieve pain by filling the remaining sites. But too much morphine overloads the system, causing enkephalin production to be cut off. More morphine is needed to fill the receptors and produce relief. If the narcotic is then withheld, all the receptors remain empty, resulting in typical withdrawal symptoms. With this knowledge, researchers hope to design nonaddictive pain relievers...
...enkephalins appear also to affect emotions. In mapping receptor sites Snyder found that the amygdala, a small portion of the brain that has no known role in physical pain but plays a major part in regulating the emotions, is unusually rich in opiate receptors. Thus variations in the number of receptors, or in the concentration of enkephalins?or the presence of narcotics?at these sites may affect emotions and behavior. Said Kosterlitz at the Manhattan award presentation: "The discovery of the enkephalins resembled the opening of Pandora's box, hopefully this time for the benefit of mankind...