Scientists are developing new methods to combat brain diseases
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Scientists from the universities of Bristol and Liège in Belgium learned how to develop drugs whose effect will be directed at specific cellular processes in certain areas of the brain without causing side reactions in other areas of the nervous system.
The study, led by Professor Neil Marrion at the Bristol School of Physiology and Pharmacology, published in the Journal of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS), will enable the development of more effective compounds to improve the functioning of the nervous system.
The team of scientists worked on studying the subtype of the ion channel, which is called the SK channel. Ionic channels are proteins that act as pores in the cell membrane and help control the excitability of the nerves.
Ionic channels allow the flow of "charged" elements (potassium, sodium and calcium) to enter and exit through the cell membranes through a network of pores formed by such SK channels.
Scientists have used a natural toxin called apamine and is found in bee venom, which is capable of blocking various types of SK channels. The researchers used apamines to sequentially block each of the three subtypes of SK channels to determine how these subtypes [SK1-3] differ.
Neil Marrion, Professor of Neuroscience at the University, argues that the problem of developing new drugs aimed at certain cellular processes is that the different types of cells and functions are scattered throughout the body, and the combinations of different subtypes [SK1-3] in the body different in certain tissues and organs.
"This means that drugs aimed at blocking only one subtype of the SK channel will not be therapeutically effective, but knowing that the channels consist of several subtypes, you can find the right key to solving this problem."
The results of the study showed how SK channels are blocked by apamine and other ligands. It is important how the blocking of different subtypes of channels affects the penetration of the drug inside. This will allow the development of drugs to block those SK channels that contain several subtypes of SK, for more effective treatment of diseases such as dementia and depression.
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