A Review of the Potential Receptors of Migraine with a Special Emphasis on CGRP to Develop an Ideal Antimigraine Drug

Background and Objective: Migraine is a neurovascular syndrome associated with unilateral, throbbing headache accompanied with nausea, vomiting and photo/phonophobia. Several proteins are involved in the etiopathogenesis of migraine headache. The aim of the present review is to give an insight into the various target proteins involved in migraine headache pertaining to the development of a potential anti-migraine drug molecule. Proteins/receptors such as serotonin (5-HT), Calcitonin Gene Related Peptide (CGRP), Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid (TRPV1), cannabinoid, glutamate, opioid and histamine receptors play various roles in migraine. The nature of the proteins, their types, binding partner membrane proteins and the consequences of the reactions produced have been discussed. The studies conducted on animals and humans with the above mentioned target proteins/receptors and the results obtained have also been reviewed. Conclusion: Calcitonin Gene Related Peptide (CGRP), a G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) significantly contributed to the progression of migraine. CGRP antagonist inhibits the release of CGRP from trigeminal neurons of trigeminal ganglion. Based on the study results, the present review suggests that the inhibition of CGRP receptor might be a successful way to treat migraine headache. Currently, researchers across the world are focussing their attention towards the development of novel molecules to treat migraine headache by targeting CGRP receptor which can be attributed to its specificity among the several proteins involved in migraine.