ER Stress and Protein Misfolding in Autism (and IP3R again) and perhaps what to do about it - Activation of Sigma-1 Chaperone Activity by Afobazole?
Today’s post may require even regular readers to refresh their memories and look up the meaning of some words. There really is a lot in this post. I had to read it twice. As is often the case, this post started at the end with the therapy (a trial of Afobazole) and then I just looked at why it might be effective. Activate Chaparones Today's post is all about sigma-1 receptors and the many clever things that happen when they are activated. Even the above diagram showing the effect of Sigma-1R is incomplete! In the mouse study below, the Russian researchers looked at the effect of Afobazole treatment just over a few days; I think other effects might have developed if they had looked at an extended time period. They focus on Sigma1-R receptors modulating NMDA-based neurotransmission, but there seem to many possible further effects within the Endoplasmic Reticulum that relate specifically to autism. These researchers have published other studies using Afobazole, including recently one...