What If Your Data is Lying to You? The Calcium Assay Dilemma

Imagine running a calcium assay and discovering your compound shows only weak activity. What if that result wasn’t telling you the whole story?

In this foundational lesson, Terry Kenakin dives deep into a widely used, often misunderstood tool in early drug discovery: the calcium assay. Revered for its convenience, the FLIPR assay provides rapid insights into receptor activity. But its speed comes with a cost.

You’ll learn why calcium signals are inherently transient—giving rise to a “hemi-equilibrium” window that can significantly distort your understanding of drug potency. Through real-world examples (like 5-HT2A and CCR5 agonists), Terry shows how slow-onset agonists can be drastically underestimated—potentially leading promising leads to be dismissed too early.

Why does this matter? Because when true pharmacological profiling is essential—like detecting partial or inverse agonism—calcium assays just don’t deliver.

If you're starting out in pharmacology, this lesson gives you the interpretive tools to ask smarter questions, avoid missteps, and use calcium assays with strategic clarity.

📍 Foundational Level | Calcium Assays 📚 Part of Terry Kenakin’s Pharmacology Vault

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