Peptide-based Anxiolytics: The Molecular Aspects of Heptapeptide Selank Biological Activity
Vyunova TV, Andreeva L, Shevchenko K, Myasoedov N (2018). Protein & Peptide Letters.
Summary
A mechanism study using radioligand binding on isolated brain cell membranes to ask how selank, a seven-amino-acid analogue of the natural peptide tuftsin, might produce anxiety-reducing effects. The authors report that selank acts as a positive allosteric modulator of GABA binding, the same broad system benzodiazepines act on, and that its combined action with benzodiazepines is not simply additive: selank could block the modulating activity of diazepam and olanzapine, suggesting overlapping but not identical binding sites. Laboratory binding work, not a behavioural or clinical result.