Abstract
Despite widespread clinical use of anesthetics, the exact mechanisms of anesthetic action are unclear. In terms of physiological action, a broad mechanism of general anesthesia including perturbations of neurotransmission has been suggested. However, the mechanism of anesthetic action at the molecular level is less clear. Specifically, how anesthetics affect neurons and glial cells and which proteins they interact with remains to be explored. Several recent studies have investigated the molecular interactions between proteins and anesthetics. In this review, we summarize the molecular mechanisms of anesthetic action in the intracellular signaling pathways of neuronal and glial cells.
Keywords: Anesthetics, target protein, G-protein coupled receptor, ligand-gated ion channel, CAMkinase, integrin, cytoskeleton, SIRT2 deacetylase.
Graphical Abstract
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