Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24593915›Full record

ReviewACS chemical neuroscience2014

Discovery of potent positive allosteric modulators of the α3β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor by a chemical space walk in ChEMBL.

Justus J Bürgi, Mahendra Awale, Silvan D Boss, Tifany Schaer, Fabrice Marger, Juan M Viveros-Paredes, Sonia Bertrand, Jürg Gertsch, Daniel Bertrand, Jean-Louis Reymond

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in ACS chemical neuroscience, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Chemical space as a unifying theme for chemistry.Journal of cheminformatics · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Justus J BürgiDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, NCCR TransCure, University of Berne , Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Berne, Switzerland.
Mahendra Awale
Silvan D Boss
Tifany Schaer
Fabrice Marger
Juan M Viveros-Paredes
Sonia Bertrand
Jürg Gertsch
Daniel Bertrand
Jean-Louis Reymond
University of Bern · CHHiQScreen (Switzerland) · CHUniversidad de Guadalajara · MX

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While a plethora of ligands are known for the well studied α7 and α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), only very few ligands address the related α3β2 nAChR expressed in the central nervous system and at the neuromuscular junction. Starting with the public database ChEMBL organized in the chemical space of Molecular Quantum Numbers (MQN, a series of 42 integer value descriptors of molecular structure), a visual survey of nearest neighbors of the α7 nAChR partial agonist N-(3R)-1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-3-yl-4-chlorobenzamide (PNU-282,987) pointed to N-(2-halobenzyl)-3-aminoquinuclidines as possible nAChR modulators. This simple "chemical space walk" was performed using a web-browser available at www.gdb.unibe.ch . Electrophysiological recordings revealed that these ligands represent a new and to date most potent class of positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of the α3β2 nAChR, which also exert significant effects in vivo. The present discovery highlights the value of surveying chemical space neighbors of known drugs within public databases to uncover new pharmacology.

Indexed as

Databases, ChemicalAllosteric RegulationAnimalsBenzamidesBridged Bicyclo CompoundsDose-Response Relationship, DrugHumansMembrane PotentialsMiceModels, ChemicalNicotinic AgonistsReceptors, NicotinicXenopus laevisBenzamidesBridged Bicyclo CompoundsNicotinic Agonistsnicotinic receptor alpha3beta2PNU-282987Receptors, Nicotinic

Identifiers

PMID24593915
PMCPMC4031035
OpenAlexW2037925204

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.