title: The peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor and the cardiovascular system. Implications for drug development.
abstract: Peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors (PBRs) are abundant in the cardiovascular system. In the cardiovascular lumen, PBRs are present in platelets, erythrocytes, lymphocytes, and mononuclear cells. In the walls of the cardiovascular system, PBR can be found in the endothelium, the striated cardiac muscle, the vascular smooth muscles, and the mast cells. The subcellular location of PBR is primarily in mitochondria. The PBR complex includes the isoquinoline binding protein (IBP), voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), and adenine nucleotide transporter (ANT). Putative endogenous ligands for PBR include protoporphyrin IX, diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI), triakontatetraneuropeptide (TTN), and phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Classical synthetic ligands for PBR are the isoquinoline 1-(2-chlorophenyl)-N-methyl-N-(1-methyl-propyl)-3-isoquinolinecarboxamide (PK 11195) and the benzodiazepine 7-chloro-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1,3-dihydro-1-methyl-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one (Ro5 4864). Novel PBR ligands include N,N-di-n-hexyl 2-(4-fluorophenyl)indole-3-acetamide (FGIN-1-27) and 7-chloro-N,N,5-trimethyl-4-oxo-3-phenyl-3,5-dihydro-4H-pyridazino[4,5-b]indole-1-acetamide (SSR180575), both possessing steroidogenic properties, but while FGIN-1-27 is pro-apoptotic, SSR180575 is anti-apoptotic. Putative PBR functions include regulation of steroidogenesis, apoptosis, cell proliferation, the mitochondrial membrane potential, the mitochondrial respiratory chain, voltage-dependent calcium channels, responses to stress, and microglial activation. PBRs in blood vessel walls appear to take part in responses to trauma such as ischemia. The irreversible PBR antagonist, SSR180575, was found to reduce damage correlated with ischemia. Stress, anxiety disorders, and neurological disorders, as well as their treatment, can affect PBR levels in blood cells. PBRs in blood cells appear to play roles in several aspects of the immune response, such as phagocytosis and the secretion of interleukin-2, interleukin-3, and immunoglobulin A (IgA). Thus, alterations in PBR density in blood cells may have immunological consequences in the affected person. In conclusion, PBR in the cardiovascular system may represent a new target for drug development.
authors.affiliation: Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Department of Pharmacology, Ephron Street, P.O. Box 9649, Bat-Galim, Haifa 31096, Israel.
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veenman
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gavish
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000378:metabolism; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000378:metabolism*; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D028361:Mitochondrial Diseases / Q000378:metabolism; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000378:metabolism; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000378:metabolism; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A