title: Galanin receptors as a potential target for neurological disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Galanin is a 29/30 amino acid long neuropeptide that is widely expressed in the brains of many mammals. Galanin exerts its biological activities through three different G protein-coupled receptors, GalR1, GalR2 and GalR3. The widespread distribution of galanin and its receptors in the CNS and the various physiological and pharmacological effects of galanin make the galanin receptors attractive drug targets.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review provides an overview of the role of galanin and its receptors in the CNS, the involvement of the galaninergic system in various neurological diseases and the development of new galanin receptor-specific ligands.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recent advances and novel approaches in migrating the directions of subtype-selective ligand development and chemical modifications of the peptide backbone highlight the importance of the galanin neurochemical system as a potential target for drug development.
authors.affiliation: a 1 University of Tartu, Institute of Technology , Tartu, Estonia +372 737 4871 ; krista.freimann@ut.ee.
authors.forename: Krista
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Freimann
authors.affiliation: b 2 University of Tartu, Institute of Technology , Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kaido
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurrikoff
authors.affiliation: c 3 University of Tartu, Institute of Technology , Tartu, Estonia.|d 4 Stockholm University, Arrhenius Laboratories for Natural Science, Department of Neurochemistry , Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ülo
authors.initials: Ü
authors.lastname: Langel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015195:Drug Design; D019004:Galanin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D044088:Receptors, Galanin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D044088:Receptors, Galanin; D019004:Galanin
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; depression; epilepsy; galanin; galanin receptors; ligands; neurological disease; neuropeptide