Glossary of terms commonly used in the description of allosteric effects
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Orthosteric site | The agonist binding site on a receptor |
| Allosteric site | An additional binding site on a receptor that is distinct from the agonist binding site, but that can modulate receptor activity |
| Allosteric interaction | An interaction between two topographically distinct binding sites on the same receptor complex |
| Allosteric transition | The isomerization of a receptor protein between multiple conformational states |
| Cooperative binding | This term is commonly used to describe the binding of two or more molecules to the same receptor; however, its strict definition is the binding of more than one molecule of the same ligand to a receptor complex. |