Guide to Pharmacology

A multifold increase in the number of drug targets in recent years and has led to the need for organizing them in a logical manner in terms of a standardized nomenclature, pharmacological properties and details of their ligands. Earlier initiatives aimed at categorization were met with the twin constraints of sheer volume and the rapidity with which new targets were being discovered. The introduction of searchable electronic databases revolutionized the process of classification and retrieval. Additionally, these databases which could be linked to other similar sources made the process of finding therapeutically useful targets more meaningful. One of the most authoritative initiatives was the Guide to Receptors and Channels (GRAC), distributed with the British Journal of Pharmacology, and produced in association with NC-IUPHAR, the Nomenclature Committees of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. The guide was first published in 2004 and is presently in its fifth edition.