Glycranine tsporters and their inhibitors

Abstract

Glycine plays a ubiquitous role in many biological processes. In the central nervous system it serves as an important neurotransmitter acting as an agonist at strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors and as an essential co-agonist with glutamate at the NMDA receptor complex. Control of glycine concentrations in the vicinity of these receptors is mediated by the specific glycine transporters, GlyT1 and GlyT2. Inhibition of these transporters has been postulated to be of potential benefit in several therapeutic indications including schizophrenia and pain. In this review we discuss our current knowledge of glycine transporters and focus on recent advances in the medicinal chemistry of GlyT1 and GlyT2 inhibitors. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.