Pharmacology and Function of Tachykinin Receptors

The existence of SP was described in the 1930s by Von Euler and Gaddum in mammals, and tachykinin peptides were identified and sequenced by Erspamer in non-vertebrated (eledoisin) and then in nonmammalian species (physalaemin). In the 1960s Lembeck continued Von Euler and Gaddum’s studies, describing the effects of SP and other tachykinins in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral preparations of mammals. The CNS physiology of SP was further developed by Konishi and Otsuka in the 1970s, whereas Hokfelt gave a major contribution in defining the neuroanatomical localisation of this peptide. Meanwhile, Chang and Leeman had defined the amino acid sequence of SP, which was then followed in the 1980s by the discovery of two other mammalian tachykinins, namely neurokinin A (NKA), also known as substance K, and neurokinin B (NKB), also known as neuromedin K, by Matsuo, Munekata and co-workers (Table 1). 2