therapeutic advantage. For example, it has been shown that cholesterol and divalent cations such as Mn2+ and Mg2+ are positive allosteric modulators (PAM) of the OXTR that act by stabilizing the receptor in a high-affinity state (reviewed in Gimpl et al., 2002, Gimpl et al., 2008). The discovery and development of new drugs that selectively target the OXTR will be key for future studies on the clinical utility of this therapeutic strategy for alcohol/drug addiction treatment.
