§ Definition
A receptor agonist is a molecule that binds a specific cellular receptor and activates it, producing a biological response that mimics the receptor's natural ligand. In research, agonists are contrasted with antagonists, which bind without activating; many studied peptides are characterized as agonists of a named receptor, and a molecule acting at several receptors at once is termed a multi-receptor agonist.
↳ Used in research on