Researchers Use Pfizer’s Anti-Smoking Drug Chantix to Control Neurons
Biospace.com | March 15, 2019
Researchers with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have conducted research using Pfizer’s anti-smoking drug Chantix to control neurons. The research has broad potential for targeted treatments for neurological diseases like epilepsy or for pain treatment. Their research was published in the journal Science. Chantix (varenicline) attaches to proteins called ion channels, which control neuron signaling. By controlling which neurons receive these proteins, researchers can modulate specific cells. This field of chemogenetics has been studied for about the last 20 years, with scientists matching pairs of drugs with receptors that change the neuron activity in mice. But, Scott Sternson, group leader at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus, stated, chemogenetics “often use molecules that would not be appropriate for human therapy. It’s still many steps to the clinic, but we’re trying to shorten that route.”