2-Methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP) is a research drug which was one of the first compounds found to act as a selective antagonist for the

metabotropic glutamate receptor The metabotropic glutamate receptors, or mGluRs, are a type of glutamate receptor that are active through an indirect metabotropic process. They are members of the group C family of G-protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs. Like all glutamate re ...

subtype mGluR5. After being originally patented as a liquid crystal for LCDs, it was developed by the pharmaceutical company

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

in the late 1990s. It was found to produce

neuroprotective Neuroprotection refers to the relative preservation of neuronal structure and/or function. In the case of an ongoing insult (a neurodegenerative insult) the relative preservation of neuronal integrity implies a reduction in the rate of neuronal los ...

effects following acute brain injury in animal studies, although it was unclear whether these results were purely from mGluR5 blockade as it also acts as a weak

NMDA antagonist NMDA receptor antagonists are a class of drugs that work to antagonize, or inhibit the action of, the ''N''-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor ( NMDAR). They are commonly used as anesthetics for animals and humans; the state of anesthesia they induce ...

, and as a positive allosteric modulator of another subtype mGlu4, and there is also evidence for a functional interaction between mGluR5 and NMDA receptors in the same populations of neurons. It was also shown to produce antidepressant and

anxiolytic An anxiolytic (; also antipanic or antianxiety agent) is a medication or other intervention that reduces anxiety. This effect is in contrast to anxiogenic agents which increase anxiety. Anxiolytic medications are used for the treatment of anxiet ...

effects in animals, and to reduce the effects of morphine withdrawal, most likely due to direct interaction between mGluR5 and the μ-opioid receptor. The main significance of MPEP has been as a lead compound to develop more potent and selective mGluR5 antagonists such as MTEP, but research using MPEP itself continues, and recently it was shown to reduce self-administration of nicotine, cocaine, ketamine and heroin in animals, possibly through an MPEP-induced potentiation of the rewarding effect of the self-administered drug, and MPEP was also shown to possess weak reinforcing effects by itself.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine, 2- Alkyne derivatives Pyridines MGlu4 receptor agonists MGlu5 receptor antagonists

See also

References