ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science
January 25, 2024
Thomas W. Flanagan, Timothy P. Foster, Thomas E. Galbato et al.
18 citations
Functional selectivity in the context of serotonin 2A (5-HT 2A ) receptor agonists is often described as differences psychedelic compounds have in the activation of Gq vs β-arrestin signaling in the brain and how that may relate to inducing psychoactive and hallucinatory properties with respect to each other. However, the presence of 5-HT 2A receptors throughout the body in several cell types,...
ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science
April 9, 2021
Thomas W. Flanagan, Gerald Billac, Alexus N. Landry et al.
50 citations
Psychedelic drugs can exert potent anti-inflammatory effects. However, anti-inflammatory effects do not appear to correlate with behavioral activity, suggesting different underlying mechanisms. We hypothesized that the distinct structural features of psychedelics underlie functionally selective mechanisms at the target 5-HT2A receptor to elicit maximal anti-inflammatory effects. In order to...
International Review of Psychiatry
July 4, 2018
Thomas W. Flanagan, Charles D. Nichols
263 citations
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT)2A receptor agonists have recently emerged as promising new treatment options for a variety of disorders. The recent success of these agonists, also known as psychedelics, like psilocybin for the treatment of anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and addiction, has ushered in a renaissance in the way these compounds are perceived in the...
The FASEB Journal
April 1, 2017
Thomas W. Flanagan, Melaine N. Sebastian, Charles D. Nichols
2 citations
Only recently has the full therapeutic value of serotonin [5‐hydroxytryptophan (5‐HT)] receptor activation begun to be explored. Currently there are two 5‐HT 2A receptor agonists in human clinical trials for the treatment of depression and obesity. An exciting new therapeutic avenue in which 5‐HT 2A agonists might be employed is the modulation of inflammation in allergic airways disease. Our...
The FASEB Journal
April 1, 2017
C. Nichols, Melaine N. Sebastian, Thomas W. Flanagan
We previously discovered that serotonin 5‐HT2A receptor activation with psychedelics has potent anti‐inflammatory activity in both cell culture and whole animals, which indicated potent anti‐inflammatory effects in vascular tissues among others. More recently we found that the psychedelic (R)‐DOI potently prevents the development of allergic asthma in a mouse model. The effects of (R)‐DOI were...