Protein / target

Beta-2 adrenergic receptor

ADRB2P07550Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
75
Approved medicines
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Potassium channel regulator activity

Primary system

Nervous system

Strongest disease association

stroke disorder

Genetic evidence · score 0.34

Therapeutic maturity

Clinically validated target

75 approved medicines against this target

Druggability

Small molecule

Open Targets tractability · Approved Drug

Clinical development

75 approved · 17 in clinical development

30 linked trials

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function

G protein-coupled receptor for catecholamines that couples to both G(s) and G(i) proteins, activating bifurcated signaling pathways (PubMed:2831218, PubMed:7915137). ADRB2 binds epinephrine (Epi) with an approximately 30-fold greater affinity than norepinephrine (NE) (PubMed:2831218, PubMed:33093660, PubMed:7915137). In the heart, Epi- and NE-activated ADRB2 induces rapid and slow cardiomyocyte contraction rate, respectively (By similarity). Both NE and Epi promote coupling to G(s)/PKA pathway to regulate myocyte contraction rate (By similarity). Epi also promotes ADRB2 coupling to G(i) proteins to exert cardioprotective effects especially in the conditions of hypoxia and oxidative stress through the G(i)/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway (By similarity). ADRB2-G(s) signaling delivers proapoptotic signals in cardiomyocytes although G(i)-mediated survival effect appears to predominate (By similarity). ADRB2 also transduces signals independently of PKA to regulate cellular pH by modulating Na(+)/H(+) exchanger SLC9A3 function (PubMed:9560162)

Subcellular location

Cell membraneGolgi apparatus
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (41)

Gene Ontology

  • Capical plasma membrane
  • Cclathrin-coated endocytic vesicle membrane
  • Cendosome
  • Cendosome membrane
  • CGolgi apparatus
  • Clysosome
  • Cmembrane
  • Cneuronal dense core vesicle
  • Cnucleus
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Creceptor complex
  • Fadenylate cyclase binding

413 aa · 46 kDa

Biological roles

Reactome v97

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

G protein-coupled signallingUniProt · GOApoptosis & cell deathGOExcitatory neurotransmissionGOSynaptic signallingGOProteolysisReactomeMuscle contractionGO
View supporting evidence

G protein-coupled signalling

  • ·G protein-coupled receptor for catecholamines that couples to both G(s) and G(i) protein…
  • ·adenylate cyclase-modulating G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway
  • ·negative regulation of G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway

Apoptosis & cell death

  • ·negative regulation of cardiac muscle cell apoptotic process
  • ·positive regulation of cardiac muscle cell apoptotic process

Excitatory neurotransmission

  • ·positive regulation of mini excitatory postsynaptic potential

Synaptic signalling

  • ·positive regulation of mini excitatory postsynaptic potential

Proteolysis

  • ·Ub-specific processing proteases

Muscle contraction

  • ·regulation of smooth muscle contraction
View underlying pathways (5)

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Interaction neighbourhood

STRING v12.0

Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.

ARRB2ARRB1SLC9A3…GNASSAGGRK2AKAP12SNX27ADRB1SRCADRB2

10 strongest partners — larger node and heavier line mean higher confidence

Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.

Drugs targeting this protein

2

Whether each drug engages this protein directly or through a complex, and how many other targets are recorded for it. Direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

carvedilol
ApprovedAntagonist

Adrenergic receptor beta antagonist

Appears in clinical studies involving myocardial infarction, hypertensive disorder, heart failure, congestive heart failure

Acts on a complex — shared with ADRB1, ADRB3 · 1 of 6 recorded protein targets

Epinephrine
ApprovedAgonist

Adrenergic receptor agonist

Appears in clinical studies involving sudden cardiac arrest, asthma, sinusitis, septic shock

Acts on a complex — shared with ADRA1A, ADRA2A, ADRA1D +5 more · 1 of 9 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

ChEMBL mechanism, action type and target identity. Open Targets clinical status and indications.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically — disease associations, drugs in development, tractability and safety, from Open Targets.

Strongest genetic associations

Human genetic evidence — the most direct causal link between this target and a disease.

stroke disorder0.34

Genetic · overall 0.60

Highest-confidence therapeutic associations

Diseases where a drug acting on this target has already reached clinical development.

asthma1.00

Clinical · overall 0.63

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease1.00

Clinical · overall 0.63

open-angle glaucoma0.99

Clinical · overall 0.62

ocular hypertension0.99

Clinical · overall 0.61

hypertensive disorder0.99

Clinical · overall 0.62

Highest overall evidence

Remaining associations by Open Targets' aggregated evidence score.

glaucoma0.62

Clinical

myocardial infarction0.61

Clinical

heart failure0.60

Clinical

migraine disorder0.60

Clinical

Show all associations
asthma0.63
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease0.63
open-angle glaucoma0.62
hypertensive disorder0.62
glaucoma0.62
myocardial infarction0.61
ocular hypertension0.61
heart failure0.60
migraine disorder0.60
stroke disorder0.60

Open Targets ranks 1,315 associations for this target and we store the top 10 by aggregated score. The long tail is largely literature co-mention and RNA-expression evidence, not evidence that this target drives those diseases.

Known drugs · 96 total

NADOLOLApproval

hypertensive disorder · angina pectoris · myocardial infarction

TERBUTALINEApproval

asthma · Airway obstruction · renal colic

METIPRANOLOLApproval

open-angle glaucoma · glaucoma

LEVALBUTEROL TARTRATEPhase 3

bronchial disorder

EPHEDRINE SULFATEApproval

hypotensive disorder · asthma

BEDORADRINEPhase 2

asthma

PROPRANOLOLApproval

cardiovascular disorder · migraine disorder · open-angle glaucoma

MILVETEROLPhase 2

asthma · chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

ARFORMOTEROL TARTRATEApproval

chronic bronchitis · pulmonary emphysema · chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

LEVOBUNOLOLApproval

open-angle glaucoma · glaucoma

Tractability

SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · High-Quality PocketSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMAB · Human Protein Atlas locPR · UniProt UbiquitinationPR · Small Molecule Binder

Safety liabilities

hypertriglyceridemiabronchospasmincreased blood glucosesexual adverse eventsdecreased blood potassiumbronchodilationincreased blood pressureincreased heart ratePromotion, mesovarian leiomyomasreceptor bindingcardiovascular performancehypotension

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein.

Show remaining trials (24)

COMPLETED · via carvedilol · NCT00000294

WITHDRAWN · via carvedilol · NCT04121299

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

Forefront confidence

Synthesis

Our own weighting of the evidence behind each disease association. Human genetics and clinical evidence count for most; literature co-mention counts for little, because two entities sharing an abstract is not evidence that one drives the other.

open-angle glaucomaWell supported
0.81
agreement 0.680.93
Clinical76%Animal model21%Literature3%

Open Targets aggregate 0.62 · 3 independent evidence families

stroke disorderWell supported
0.80
agreement 0.700.91
Clinical60%Genetic31%Literature9%

Open Targets aggregate 0.60 · 3 independent evidence families

glaucomaWell supported
0.79
agreement 0.660.92
Clinical79%Animal model17%Literature4%

Open Targets aggregate 0.62 · 3 independent evidence families

asthmaWell supported
0.78
agreement 0.650.92
Clinical85%Literature15%RNA expression0%

Open Targets aggregate 0.63 · 3 independent evidence families

chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseWell supported
0.78
agreement 0.630.94
Clinical86%Literature14%

Open Targets aggregate 0.63 · 2 independent evidence families

This ranking differs from Open Targets' own: re-weighting moves genetically-evidenced diseases above more heavily co-mentioned ones. The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the underlying per-type scores are shown above so the calculation can be checked.

What's happening now

16

Recent activity around this target, drawn from one canonical event stream. Every item is reached through 2 drugs that target this protein, so each event is news about that drug rather than about the protein directly.

  1. Label change2026-06-22

    Label change: EPINEPHRINE (NDA204640)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Epinephrine

  2. Product recall2026-05-14

    Recall (Class III): EPINEPHRINE

    fda · safety · fda · via Epinephrine

  3. Regulatory approval2024-08-22

    Approval: Eurneffy (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via Epinephrine

  4. New publication2023-11-07
    Impact of norepinephrine on immunity and oxidative metabolism in sepsis.

    Frontiers in immunology · 2023 · 33 citations · Europe PMC · via Epinephrine

  5. New publication2023-09-25
    Multicenter, Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial of High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I-Guided Combination Angiotensin Receptor Blockade and Beta-Blocker Therapy to Prevent Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity: The Cardiac CARE Trial.

    Circulation · 2023 · 53 citations · Europe PMC · via carvedilol

  6. Label change2023-01-05

    Label change: EPINEPHRINE (NDA204640)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Epinephrine

  7. Supplemental approval2021-08-17

    Supplemental approval: EPINEPHRINE (NDA204640)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Epinephrine

  8. New publication2019-10-31
    The effect of topical epinephrine 1:1000 with and without infiltration of 1% lidocaine with epinephrine 1:100,000 on endoscopic surgical field visualization: a double-blind randomized controlled study.

    International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2020 · 6 citations · Europe PMC · via Epinephrine

  9. Indication expanded2019-01-29

    Indication expansion: EPINEPHRINE (NDA204640)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Epinephrine

  10. New publication2017-08-17
    Pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment with carvedilol for heart failure: a randomized controlled trial.

    JCI insight · 2017 · 74 citations · Europe PMC · via carvedilol

  11. Label change2017-08-09

    Label change: EPINEPHRINE (NDA204640)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Epinephrine

  12. Label change2016-05-18

    Label change: EPINEPHRINE (NDA204640)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Epinephrine

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.