'Love hormone' from insects as potential drug lead for inhibiting preterm labor
Wednesday, February 1, 2017 - 16:01
in Biology & Nature
An oxytocin-like neuropeptide ("inotocin") exhibited a specific pharmacological profile for the human receptors of oxytocin (known as the "love hormone") and vasopressin, report scientists at conclusion of their study. At the same time, the researchers were able to show that a synthetic analogue of inotocin serves as a molecular tool for the fundamental understanding of biochemical signalling processes of oxytocin and vasopressin receptors and could possibly be used as drug lead molecule to develop pharmaceuticals for inhibiting preterm labor, for example.