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Author Spotlight: Exploring the Role of Ion Channels in Cancer: Characterization and Potential Treatment Approaches
Published on: June 16, 2023
GABAergic signaling as a potential therapeutic target in cancers
Yihui Yang1, Liwen Ren1, Wan Li1
1The State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Beijing 100050, China; Key Laboratory of Drug Target Research and Drug Screen, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
Abstract:
GABA is the most common inhibitory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate central nervous system. Synthesized by glutamic acid decarboxylase, GABA could specifically bind with two GABA receptors to transmit inhibition signal stimuli into cells: GABAA receptor and GABAB receptor. In recent years, emerging studies revealed that GABAergic signaling not only participated in traditional neurotransmission but was involved in tumorigenesis as well as regulating tumor immunity. In this review, we summarize the existing knowledge of the GABAergic signaling pathway in tumor proliferation, metastasis, progression, stemness, and tumor microenvironment as well as the underlying molecular mechanism. We also discussed the therapeutical advances in targeting GABA receptors to provide the theoretical basis for pharmacological intervention of GABAergic signaling in cancer treatment especially immunotherapy.
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