Understanding the working mechanism of anesthetics
(Phys.org)—Spanish scientists at the University of the Basque Region and the University of La Rioja have combined mass-resolved electronic spectroscopy and ab initio calculations to model the interactions of anesthetics with proteins. Anesthetics are designed to work as pain relievers by affecting a specific protein in the brain, thereby suppressing pain signal transmittance. "However, very often there are also undesired interactions with other proteins, which result in secondary effects that sometimes may even lead to the death of the patient", says Jose A. Fernández, lead author of a study published recently in ChemPhysChem. "To design new, more specific anesthetics, with reduced secondary effects, it is necessary to have a deep knowledge of how anesthetics interact with proteins."