Selective agonists and antagonists for kainate receptors.
Kainate receptors have only recently been characterized both from the pharmacological and biological point of view. Due to the limited number of truly kainate selective ligands, most of the known agonists and antagonists are generally classified as AMPA/kainate receptors ligands. The increasing interest in the search for selective kainate ligands aims at understanding the physiological role played by these receptors and finding out potential therapeutic approaches for the treatment of a number of neurological pathologies, i.e. schizophrenia, as well as acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases, i.e. epilepsy, cerebral ischaemia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. This review will focus on the recently discovered ligands for kainate receptors, with a particular attention given to those molecules displaying a selectivity for the different subunits of the kainate receptors and, on the other hand, to the role played by these receptor subtypes in the pathophysiology of the central nervous system.
Conti
Paola
P
Istituto di Chimica Farmaceutica e Tossicologica, Viale Abruzzi 42, Milano, 20131, Italy. paola.conti@unimi.it
De Amici
Marco
M
De Micheli
Carlo
C
D000818:Animals; D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018092:Kainic Acid Receptors / Q000819:agonists* / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D018092:Kainic Acid Receptors