Chemistry and drugs · Database
Guide to PHARMACOLOGY
An expert-curated database of pharmacological targets, ligands, and their quantitative interactions.
What Guide to PHARMACOLOGY is
The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY (GtoPdb) is an open-access repository documenting biological drug targets and the chemical substances that act on them. Formed as a joint venture between the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) and the British Pharmacological Society (BPS), it replaces and broadens the original IUPHAR Database (IUPHAR-DB). It is curated by a team at the University of Edinburgh and supported by the IUPHAR Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification (NC-IUPHAR), using an international network of more than 500 specialist advisors organised into approximately 90 subcommittees.
The database serves researchers by cataloguing quantitative interactions, target and gene nomenclature, and structural details for approved drugs and experimental ligands. Target groups include G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels, catalytic receptors, nuclear hormone receptors, kinases, transporters, enzymes, and other proteins, accompanied by specialised entry points such as the Guide to IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY and Guide to MALARIA PHARMACOLOGY.
How it is organised
Entries in the database are arranged by target group and subdivided into classified families. Each family page presents gene and protein nomenclature alongside curated tables of selected ligands, such as agonists, antagonists, inhibitors, and radioligands. Target records link directly to quantitative pharmacological data, literature citations, and corresponding ligand pages that display synonyms, chemical structures, or peptide sequences.
Information retrieval is supported through quick search, target search, ligand search, target pharmacology queries, and chemical structure tools, alongside BLAST sequence analysis. Users can compare pharmacology across species and targets using interactive ligand activity charts, or consume database content programmatically via REST API web services and downloadable reports.
Key facts
- Curator location
- University of Edinburgh
- Principal investigator
- Prof. Jamie A. Davies
- Target coverage
- GPCRs, ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, kinases, catalytic receptors, transporters, enzymes, and other protein targets
- Ligand coverage
- Approved drugs, synthetic organic molecules, metabolites, natural products, peptides, inorganics, and antibodies
- Search tools
- Chemical structure search, BLAST sequence search, target pharmacology search, and ligand activity charts
- Programmatic interface
- REST API web services
What you can use it for
- Target pharmacology and affinity comparison
- Compare quantitative affinities, potencies, and activity profiles of agonists, antagonists, or inhibitors across different target families and species.
- Chemical structure and sequence querying
- Search the ligand inventory using molecular chemical structures or identify related protein targets using BLAST sequence searches.
- Immunology and malaria drug research
- Explore targeted subsets of pharmacological interactions curated specifically for immune processes, inflammation, infection, or malaria.
- Cross-database target mapping
- Connect pharmacological targets and ligands to external resources such as UniProt, Ensembl, HGNC, PubChem, ChEMBL, and the Protein Data Bank.
Query it here
The research agent queries Guide to PHARMACOLOGY directly — no account, no API key — and every answer links back to the record it came from. Ask in plain language and it writes the query.
Strengths and limits
Good at
- Data is backed by peer review and curation from NC-IUPHAR subcommittees comprising over 500 specialist advisors.
- Provides verified gene and protein nomenclature linked directly to external genomic, chemical, and structural databases.
- Includes interactive visual tools, such as ligand activity charts, to facilitate cross-species and cross-target pharmacology comparisons.
Watch out for
- Website usage requires user account registration.
- In-depth detailed view pages are limited to a selected subset of targets rather than the complete target catalogue.
Questions
Can I search Guide to PHARMACOLOGY without writing code?
Yes. The research agent queries Guide to PHARMACOLOGY directly, with no account or API key, and cites the record behind every answer. Ask in plain language — for a gene, a protein, a compound or a study — and it builds the query for you.
Can I reuse data from Guide to PHARMACOLOGY?
Database ODbL; contents CC BY-SA 4.0. Terms: https://www.guidetopharmacology.org/about.jsp
What primary target classes are curated?
The database curates G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels (including voltage-gated and ligand-gated ion channels), nuclear hormone receptors, kinases, catalytic receptors, transporters, enzymes, and other protein targets such as sigma and adiponectin receptors.
What kinds of ligands are documented?
Documented ligands encompass approved drugs, synthetic organic molecules, endogenous peptides, mammalian metabolites, natural products, inorganic molecules, and antibodies.
How can the database be queried programmatically?
The platform provides REST API web services alongside downloadable data files and database reports.
What is the relationship between IUPHAR-DB and Guide to PHARMACOLOGY?
The Guide to PHARMACOLOGY replaces and expands upon the original IUPHAR-DB, which is no longer actively developed.
How to cite it
Harding SD, Armstrong JF, Faccenda E, Southan C, Alexander SPH, Davenport AP, Spedding M, Davies JA. (2025) The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY in 2026 . Nucl. Acids Res. 2026. 54(D1):D1446-D1456. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaf1067 . PMID: 41160876 .
Written from Guide to PHARMACOLOGY's own website and reference material. Statements citing a figure that does not appear there are removed before publication. Licence and running details come from our registry.