ArticleArchives of toxicology2026
TRACT assay-based in vitro characterization of substituted cathinones: inhibition and release at the serotonin transporter.
Article in Archives of toxicology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Structure-activity relationship of synthetic cathinones: integrated in silico, in vitro, and in vivo studies of α-PiHP analogues.Archives of toxicology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Synthetic cathinones are increasingly popular new psychoactive substances (NPS), with new structures often designed to evade legal restrictions. Besides presenting challenges for drug policy, this also results in a poor understanding of these compounds’ pharmacological effects, particularly concerning their interaction with monoamine transporters such as the serotonin transporter (SERT). Therefore, we optimized a previously developed SERT bioassay based on the TRACT (transporter activity through receptor activation) principle by developing a new human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T cell line stably expressing SERT (HEK293T-SERT). The use of this cell line was evaluated in the TRACT protocol to determine uptake inhibition and SERT-mediated serotonin (5-HT) release. SERT effects are measured by means of a modified serotonin 2 A receptor (5-HT2AR), using functional complementation of a split-nanoluciferase. 5-HT2AR activation depends on extracellular serotonin levels, which are elevated either through inhibited or reversed 5-HT transport. The TRACT assay format for SERT inhibition with the new HEK293T-SERT cell line outperformed the transient transfection protocol. In addition, the use of the HEK293T-SERT cells in a fluorescence-based functional assay resulted in an identical ranking of the SERT inhibition activities of a set of eleven diversely substituted cathinones in both TRACT and fluorescence assays. These compounds carried key substitutions, including N-alkylation/arylation, ring substitution and α-alkylation. Furthermore, the TRACT assay format was suited to distinguish between SERT blockers and releasers, and allowed functional characterization. Overall, the dual functionality of the optimized TRACT assay provides a versatile tool for characterizing SERT-modulating NPS, with potential applications in therapeutic drug development.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41915198What OpenQuestion holds
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.