Allosteric modulators for adenosine receptors (ARs) are of an increasing interest and may have potential therapeutic advantage over orthosteric ligands. Benzoylthiophene derivatives (including PD 81,723), 2-aminothiazolium salts, and related allosteric modulators of the A 1 AR have been studied. The benzoylthiophene derivatives were demonstrated to be selective enhancers for the A 1 AR, with little or no effect on other subtypes of ARs. Allosteric modulation of the A 2A AR has also been reported. A 3 allosteric enhancers may be predicted to be useful against ischemic conditions. We have recently characterized two classes of A 3 AR allosteric modulators: 3-(2-pyridinyl)isoquinolines (e.g. VUF5455) and 1H-imidazo-[4,5-c]quinolin-4-amines (e.g. DU124183), which selectively decreased the agonist dissociation rate at the human A 3 AR but not at A 1 and A 2A ARs. DU124183 left-shifted the agonist conc.-response curve for inhibition of forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation in intact cells expressing the human A 3 AR with up to 30% potentiation of the maximal efficacy. The increased potency of A 3 agonists was evident only in the presence of an A 3 antagonist, since VUF5455 and DU124183 also antagonized, i.e. displaced binding at the orthosteric site, with K i values of 1.68 and 0.82 μM, respectively. A 3 AR mutagenesis studies implicated F182 5.43 and N274 7.45 in the action of the enhancers and was interpreted using a rhodopsin-based A 3 AR molecular model, suggesting multiple binding modes. Amiloride analogues, SCH-202676 (N-(2,3-diphenyl-1,2,4-thiadiazol-5(2H)-ylidene)methanamine), and sodium ions were demonstrated to be common allosteric modulators for at least three subtypes (A 1 , A 2A , and A 3 ) of ARs.