P2X7受体是以三磷酸腺苷(ATP)为配体的非选择性阳离子门控通道。P2X7受体在体内分布极为广泛,在多种炎性病理状态下表达上调。与P2X受体家族其它成员(P2X1-6)不同,长时间或高浓度激动剂激活后P2X7受体具有形成膜孔的特性,可诱导炎症介质的释放,这种特性与多种炎症性疾病密切相关。近年来,随着基因敲除P2X7受体的动物模型和特异性P2X7受体拮抗剂在炎症性疾病研究的广泛运用,P2X7受体可望成为炎症性疾病治疗的新靶点。本文对P2X7受体在炎症性疾病中的作用及其机制的研究进展作一综述。
P2X7 receptor is a member of ATP-gated non-selective cation channels. P2X7 receptor is widely distributed in vivo, and its expression is always observed to be up-regulated in the pathological inflammatory circumstances. P2X7 receptor has an unusual prop- erty of forming membrane pore during prolonged agonist exposure or high concentrations of agonist activation, different from other members of P2X receptors (P2X1-6). Because of this property, P2X7 receptor has been implicated in inflammatory cytokine release, and is closely related to inflammatory diseases. With the wide application of the P2X7-knockout animal model and specific P2X7 receptor antagonists in inflammatory disease research, P2X7 receptor is emerging as a new target for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. This article will review the recent progress regarding the effect of P2X7 receptor on inflammatory diseases and its mecha- nism.