Docherty J R
Department of Physiology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 123 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Br J Pharmacol. 2007 Jan;150(1):1-2. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0706941. Epub 2006 Nov 13.
Knock-out (KO) mouse technology has given pharmacologists a powerful tool to study function in the absence of selective antagonists or inhibitors. Such KO technology can confirm predicted function, serendipitously reveal unrecognized function, or help define the mode of action of a drug. In this issue, Liles et al. demonstrate, employing mice unable to synthesize noradrenaline due to the KO of the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase gene, that the sympathomimetic actions of ephedrine are directly, rather than indirectly, mediated. This may end 50 years of debate about the actions of ephedrine.
基因敲除(KO)小鼠技术为药理学家提供了一个强大的工具,用于在没有选择性拮抗剂或抑制剂的情况下研究功能。这种基因敲除技术可以证实预测的功能,意外地揭示未被认识到的功能,或者有助于确定药物的作用方式。在本期中,莱尔斯等人利用由于多巴胺-β-羟化酶基因敲除而无法合成去甲肾上腺素的小鼠,证明麻黄碱的拟交感神经作用是直接介导的,而非间接介导。这可能会结束长达50年关于麻黄碱作用的争论。