Molecular modeling of receptors for adenosine and nucleotide (P2) receptors with docked ligand, based on mutagenesis, was carried out. Adenosine 3 ′ ,5 ′ -bisphosphate derivatives act as selective P2Y 1 antagonists/partial agonists. The ribose moiety was replaced with carbocyclics, smaller and larger rings, conformationally constrained rings, and acyclics, producing compounds that retained receptor affinity. Conformational constraints were built into the ribose rings of nucleoside and nucleotide ligands using the methanocarba approach, i.e. fused cyclopropane and cyclopentane rings in place of ribose, suggesting a preference for the Northern (N) conformation among ligands for P2Y 1 and A 1 and A 3 ARs.Modulation of adenosine receptors (P1) and nucleotide (P2) receptors by selective agonists and antagonists (1,2) has the potential for the treatment of wide range of diseases, including those of the cardiovascular, inflammatory, and central nervous systems. There are four subtypes of adenosine receptors (A 1 , A 2A , A 2B , and A 3 ), all of which are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) generally coupled to adenylate cyclase. Extracellular nucleotides, principally ATP, ADP, UTP, and UDP, act through two families of membrane-bound P2 receptors: P2Y subtypes, GPCRs which are activated by both adenine and uracil nucleotides and generally coupled to phospholipase C; and P2X subtypes, ligand-gated ion channels which are activated principally by adenine nucleotides (2). As many as seven subtypes have been cloned within each family. Agonists of adenosine and P2 receptors are almost exclusively nucleosides and nucleotides, respectively, while antagonists of these receptors are structurally more diverse (1). In comparison to the adenosine receptors, much less is known about the specific effects of P2 receptors, largely due to the lack of selective ligands.We are currently designing and synthesizing novel ligands for both adenosine and P2 receptors. Recent methods utilized in these investigations include: conformationally constraining the ribose, or ribose-like, moiety of nucleosides and nucleotides to freeze a conformation that may provide favorable affinity and/or selectivity at P1 and P2 receptors (3,4); modifying known receptor antagonists (5-7); use of a template approach based on the