Psychedelics ABCs
Psychedelics can be evaluated using preclinical assays organized into three key domains: agonism, behavior, and cellular plasticity. This organization provides a conceptual framework for developing next-generation, psychedelic inspired therapeutics.
A focus of the approaches is the characterization of non-hallucinogenic serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor agonists, which are gaining traction for their potential therapeutic effects without inducing acute subjective experiences.
Recent advances in tools such as biased signaling assays, structural plasticity imaging, high-content behavioral phenotyping, and transcriptomic profiling offer powerful methods of probing psychedelic drug action.
Because no single assay captures the full spectrum of psychedelic effects, an integrated, multipronged strategy across the three ABC domains (agonism, behavior, and cellular plasticity) is essential to link receptor pharmacology to both acute and enduring functional outcomes.
https://www.cell.com/trends/pharmacological-sciences/fulltext/S0165-6147(25)00160-9
