Molecular pharmacology is the use of molecular biology techniques to develop solutions to pharmacology questions. It supports the study of drugs and their targets at molecular or functional levels.
The effect of various drugs and their interaction within the living organism is ascertained in the discipline of pharmacology.
Molecular pharmacology uses the methods in molecular biology. Molecular biology studies life essential macromolecules, such as nucleic acids and proteins. Explosion in Molecular biology helped to clone several genes, encoding ion channel subunits and nuclear receptors.
Mapping of Human genome estimated around 20 to 25000 of genes with 3000 feasible drug targets made way to identification of new drug targets.
Major landmark is the cloning of first G-protein coupled receptor called β 2 adrenergic receptor which paved way to transfect and express GPCRs in cultured cell lines that helped to discover detailed pharmalogical and functional analysis of specific receptor subtypes in cells.
Current medical conditions involved in molecular pharmacology research include various types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, as well as addiction.