Search for the Receptor of Nocistatin !
No, this is not another statin in the series of lucrative statins, though name suggests otherwise. Nocistatin is a peptide derived from pronociceptin precursor, the source for the nociceptin, which is the peptide behind nociception in brain.
Though nociceptin studies have lot of information about Nocistatin actions in CNS, Brain related to nociception, yet we are not able to find out the actual receptor where it works. In this backdrop a study published recently in British Journal of Pharmacology has some important leads towards the identification of a receptor. Fantin and colleagues demonstrate that nocistatin inhibits 5-HT release from cortical synaptosomes in a concentration-dependent manner. That makes it a strong evidence in favour of an unidentified GPCR for nocistatin.
This evidence hopefully increases interest in the nociception signalling in brain and bring out some leads for the analgesic drug discovery.
Seeji, Pharm House