PNU-120596 is a drug that acts as a potent and selective
positive allosteric modulator
In pharmacology and biochemistry, allosteric modulators are a group of substances that bind to a receptor to change that receptor's response to stimuli. Some of them, like benzodiazepines or alcohol, function as psychoactive drugs. The site that ...
for the
α7 subtype of neural
nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or nAChRs, are Receptor (biochemistry), receptor polypeptides that respond to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Nicotinic receptors also respond to drugs such as the agonist nicotine. They are found in the c ...
s. It is used in scientific research into cholinergic regulation of dopamine and glutamate release in the brain.
References
Nicotinic agonists
Stimulants
Phenol ethers
Chloroarenes
Ureas
Isoxazoles
{{nervous-system-drug-stub