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Cholinergic nicotinic receptors: Competitive ligands, allosteric modulators, and their potential applications
Author(s) -
Romanelli M. Novella,
Gualtieri Fulvio
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
medicinal research reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.868
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1098-1128
pISSN - 0198-6325
DOI - 10.1002/med.10037
Subject(s) - allosteric regulation , nicotinic agonist , acetylcholine receptor , allosteric modulator , receptor , neuroscience , cholinergic , pharmacology , chemistry , biology , biochemistry
Discovery of the important role played by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in several CNS disorders has called attention to these membrane proteins and to ligands able to modulate their functions. The existence of different subtypes at multiple levels has complicated the understanding of this receptor's physiological role, but at the same time has increased the efforts to discover selective compounds in order to improve the pharmacological characterization of this kind of receptor and to make the possible therapeutical use of its modulators safer. This review focuses on the structure of new ligands for nAChRs, agonists, antagonists and allosteric modulators, and on their possible applications. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev, 23, No. 4, 393–426, 2003