Maria P. Abbracchio (1) and Geoffrey Burnstock (2,*)
(1) Institute of Pharmacological Sciences, University of Milan, Via Balzaretti
9, 20133 Milan, Italy
(2) Autonomic Neuroscience Institute, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine,
Rowland Hill Street, London, NW3 2PF, UK
(*) To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract: In this review, after a summary of the history and
current status of the receptors involved in purinergic signalling, we focus
on the distribution and physiological roles of purines and pyrimidines in
both short-term events such as neurotransmission, exocrine and endocrine
secretion and regulation of immune cell function, and long-term events such
as cell growth, differentiation and proliferation in development and regeneration.
Finally, the protective roles of nucleosides and nucleotides in events such
as cancer, ischemia, wound healing, drug toxicity, inflammation and pain
are explored and some suggestions made for future developments in this rapidly
expanding field, with particular emphasis on the involvement of selective
agonists and antagonists for purinergic receptor subtypes in therapeutic
strategies.
Keywords: Neurotransmission, P1 receptor, P2 receptor, Pathophysiology