Give boron a chance: boron containing compounds reach ionotropic and metabotropic transmembrane receptors.

The ligand-gated ion channels and seven transmembrane domain receptors are the greatest families of transmembrane receptors (TMR) expressed in mammalians and the major target of current available drugs. Recently, boron containing compounds (BCC) have shown capability of acting as ligands on these targets. This mini-review is focused on the description of BCC that target TMR which were evaluated under experimental models. The results in experimental models are related with the theoretical interaction studies of these ligands on the target proteins as 3D-models in order to explore the biological effects of BCC in molecular detail.