Drugs that treat depression, schizophrenia and other psychotic conditions and that target a particular protein on brain cells might not be triggering the most appropriate response in those cells, new research suggests.
The study by researchers at The Ohio State University Medical Center examined the serotonin 2A receptor, a protein on brain cells sensitive to the neurotransmitter serotonin.
This study examined the early chemical events that happen inside neurons when the 2A receptor is stimulated by serotonin and by a synthetic hallucinogenic agent that is thought to mimic serotonin.
The findings, published online in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences with an accompanying editorial, show that although both compounds combine with and activate this receptor, they trigger different chemical pathways inside the neuron.
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Wednesday, January 2, 2008
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