The nucleotides were discovered in the early 19th century and a few years later, the role of such molecules in energy metabolism and cell survival was postulated. In 1972, a pioneer work by Burnstock and colleagues suggested that ATP could also work as a neurotransmitter, which was known as the “purinergic hypothesis”. The idea of ATP working as a signaling molecule faced initial resistance until the discovery of the receptors for ATP and other nucleotides, called purinergic receptors. Among the purinergic receptors, the P2Y family is of great importance because it comprises of G proteincoupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs are widespread among different organisms. These receptors work in the cells' ability to sense the external environment, which involves: to sense a dangerous situation or detect a pheromone through smell; the taste of food that should not be eaten; response to hormones that alter metabolism according to the body's need; or even transform light into an electrical stimulus to generate vision. Advances in understanding the mechanism of action of GPCRs shed light on increasingly promising treatments for diseases that have hitherto remained incurable, or the possibility of abolishing side effects from therapies widely used today.

核苷酸是在19世纪初发现的，几年后，人们推测这种分子在能量代谢和细胞存活中的作用。1972年，Burnstock及其同事的一项开创性工作表明ATP也可以作为一种神经递质起作用，这被称为“嘌呤能假说”。ATP作为信号分子的想法面临最初的阻力，直到发现ATP和其他核苷酸的受体（称为嘌呤能受体）。在嘌呤能受体中，P2Y家族非常重要，因为它包含G蛋白偶联受体（GPCR）。GPCR在不同生物中广泛存在。这些受体在细胞感知外部环境的能力中起作用，包括：感知危险情况或通过气味检测信息素；不应食用的食物的味道；对根据身体需要改变新陈代谢的激素的反应；甚至将光转换成电刺激以产生视觉。对GPCR作用机制的了解的进展为迄今仍无法治愈的疾病的日益有希望的治疗方法或当今广泛使用的疗法消除副作用的可能性提供了启示。