Cholinergic nicotinic receptors: competitive ligands, allosteric modulators, and their potential applications.
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.
Romanelli
M Novella
MN
Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università di Firenze, via Gino Capponi 9, 50121 Firenze, Italy. novella.romanelli@unifi.it
Gualtieri
Fulvio
F
D000494:Allosteric Regulation; D000495:Allosteric Site; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008024:Ligands; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000737:chemistry*; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000737:chemistry*
D008024:Ligands; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic