TSPO:new nomenclature for the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor and its role in the neuropsycopharmacology / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

The early characterization of the diazepam-binding sites outside the brain led to their assignment as peripheralbenzodiazepine receptors, or PBRs, to distinguish them from the central benzodiazepine receptor.Although PBR is a widely used and accepted name in the scientific community,recent data regarding the structure and molecular function of this protein increasingly support renaming it to represent more accurately its subcellular role (or roles) and putative tissue-specific function (or functions). Translocator protein (18 ku,TSPO), is proposed as a new name, regardless of the subcellular localization of the protein. This review deals with the pharmacological, structural and molecular characterization of the PBR and its role in the neuropshcopharmacology.