ReviewFrontiers in pharmacology2018
The P2X7 Receptor in Inflammatory Diseases: Angel or Demon?
Review in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 246 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
246 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 424 citations in OpenAlex.
- P2X7 receptor as a key player in pathological pain: insights into Neuropathic, inflammatory, and cancer pain.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Development of a peripheral blood transcriptomic gene signature to predict bronchopulmonary dysplasia.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2023Trial
- EnteropathogeniceLife · 2026Article
- Review
- Molecular Hybridization of Clinically Relevant P2X7 Antagonists.ChemMedChem · 2026Article
- Energy Homeostasis Disruption in Neurological Disorders: Mitochondrial Dysfunction, High-Energy Phosphate Transfer, and Extracellular ATP-Dependent Purinergic Dysregulation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- NewLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- ATP binding to lysozyme and superfolder GFP amyloid fibrils induces aggregate remodeling and attenuates their cytotoxicity.Cell death discovery · 2026Article
- Exploration of the genetic neuroinflammatory environment in the human midcingulate cortex in Huntington's disease.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Identification of the promoter region of the human P2RX7 gene.Purinergic signalling · 2026Article
- The Role of Oral Pathobionts' Outer Membrane Vesicles in Cancer Pathology and Therapeutic Development.Cells · 2026Review
- Article
- Microglial Plasticity in Vascular Dementia: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Reprogramming.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- ATP and major affective disorders: the involvement of P2X receptors in pathophysiology.Purinergic signalling · 2026Review
- Purinergic signaling in dengue infection: modulation of P2 receptors as a potential therapeutic strategy.Purinergic signalling · 2026Review
- Host-directed therapeutic strategies against apicomplexan parasites: targeting purinergic P2 receptors.Purinergic signalling · 2026Review
- The P2X7 receptor/NLRP3 inflammasome signaling axis in sepsis: molecular mechanisms, organ-specific pathophysiology, and emerging therapeutic strategies.Purinergic signalling · 2026Review
- P2X7R Signaling and Differential Regulation of Neuroinflammatory and Behavior Responses in Male and Female Mice During Chronic Ethanol Exposure.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Purinergic P2X7 receptor signaling in anxiety: Roles of stress-related neuroinflammatory mechanisms and therapeutic horizons.Purinergic signalling · 2026Review
- Capsaicin suppresses LPS-induced inflammatory responses via NLRP3/CASP-1/IL-1β axis and purinergic pathways in BV-2 microglial cells.Purinergic signalling · 2026Article
186 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Under physiological conditions, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is present at low levels in the extracellular milieu, being massively released by stressed or dying cells. Once outside the cells, ATP and related nucleotides/nucleoside generated by ectonucleotidases mediate a high evolutionary conserved signaling system: the purinergic signaling, which is involved in a variety of pathological conditions, including inflammatory diseases. Extracellular ATP has been considered an endogenous adjuvant that can initiate inflammation by acting as a danger signal through the activation of purinergic type 2 receptors-P2 receptors (P2Y G-protein coupled receptors and P2X ligand-gated ion channels). Among the P2 receptors, the P2X7 receptor is the most extensively studied from an immunological perspective, being involved in both innate and adaptive immune responses. P2X7 receptor activation induces large-scale ATP release via its intrinsic ability to form a membrane pore or in association with pannexin hemichannels, boosting purinergic signaling. ATP acting via P2X7 receptor is the second signal to the inflammasome activation, inducing both maturation and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β and IL-18, and the production of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species. Furthermore, the P2X7 receptor is involved in caspases activation, as well as in apoptosis induction. During adaptive immune response, P2X7 receptor modulates the balance between the generation of T helper type 17 (Th17) and T regulatory (Treg) lymphocytes. Therefore, this receptor is involved in several inflammatory pathological conditions. In infectious diseases and cancer, P2X7 receptor can have different and contrasting effects, being an angel or a demon depending on its level of activation, cell studied, type of pathogen, and severity of infection. In neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, P2X7 upregulation and function appears to contribute to disease progression. In this review, we deeply discuss P2X7 receptor dual function and its pharmacological modulation in the context of different pathologies, and we also highlight the P2X7 receptor as a potential target to treat inflammatory related diseases.
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Registered trials
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.