title: Pharmacology meets vesicular trafficking at a central nervous system synapse: pregabalin effects on synaptic vesicle cycling in hippocampal neurons.
abstract: The contribution by Micheva et al. in this issue of Molecular Pharmacology adds to our understanding of the action of pregabalin, a drug used for treatment of partial seizures and neuropathic pain. The authors examine the effects of pregabalin on presynaptic function of cultured hippocampal neurons using a powerful technique to follow the trafficking of synaptic vesicles in individual boutons. The study revealed that pregabalin reduces the readily releasable pool of synaptic vesicles in an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor-dependent manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan Medical School, 2301 MSRB III, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0632, USA. holz@umich.edu
authors.forename: Ronald W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Holz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000187:drug effects; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D005089:Exocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D000069583:Pregabalin; D051381:Rats; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000502:physiology; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D000069583:Pregabalin; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D002118:Calcium