The following iBehave seminar will take place soon at the Biocenter:
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Harald Sitte
Institute of Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna
Title: 'Novel Psychoactive Substances: Exploiting Rogue Chemicals as Therapeutic Scaffolds'
Host: Prof. Dr. Olivia Masseck, University of Cologne
Date and Time: March 05, 2026 at 10:30
Location: Lecture hall 0.024 on the ground floor of the Biocenter (Building 304), University of Cologne. Address: Zülpicher Str. 47b, 50674 Köln
Abstract:
Monoamine transporters are the clinically relevant targets of a number of licit and of illicit drugs such as psychostimulants: either they inhibit the reuptake of these monoamines by competitively blocking the transporters' action or they act as substrates and induce a reversal of the transport direction, so-called non-exocytotic neurotransmitter release (efflux). Thereby, these compounds grossly enhance the extracellular concentration of monoamines such as serotonin and dopamine, which is relevant for their success.
In recent years, a novel class of compounds has been flooding the street markets, novel psychoactive substance, where rogue chemists introduce subtle changes to circumvent the legislation of illicit compound use. Recent advancement in the understanding of the structural and molecular mechanisms of psychostimulant-induced efflux via monoamine transporters will be discussed. The talk will mainly focus on amphetamines and cathinones – and how they are now becoming more and more into the limelight as new therapeutic scaffolds.
In case you are interested in meeting with the speaker, please contact the iBehave Scientific Coordinator, Dr. Sarah Imtiaz (sarah.imtiaz(at)ukbonn(dot)de).