Although it is well-known as the "universal energy currency" of the cellular metabolism, ATP is now also recognized as an important extracellular signaling substance, acting on diverse families of P2X and P2Y receptors. The major research goal of the group is to understand the role of ATP and other purines in the information processing in the normal and pathological nervous system in order to identify target sites for therapeutic intervention in neuro-psychiatric diseases.  They use an integrated, multilevel approach to investigate purinergic signalling, which includes the study of release, extracellular inactivation, pre-and postsynaptic actions of ATP and other purines, receptor mapping and identification in neurons and in the neuron-glia-microglia cross talk.  In addition, another line of the research is to explore the identity and function of presynaptic cannabinoid and nicotinic receptors in the brain, in order to reveal the mode of action of abuse drugs in the central nervous system.

The laboratory has been established at 1st of January of 2003 by the division of the large research group of E. Sylvester Vizi into four independent research units.  Nevertheless, specific research related to their present activities were already existed as an independent research direction before. The specific expertise of the group lays on a strong basis of neuropharmacology and neurochemistry, in particular in studying neurotransmitter release and presynaptic mechanisms. This approach has been supplemented with various complementary techniques from anatomy through electrophysiology to molecular biology, mainly by exploiting intra-institutional and foreign collaboration at the beginning, and more recently, by integrating these methods to their own technical repertoire. Thus at September 2002, a young molecular biologist (Lilla Papp) have been enrolled and the laboratory has been equipped with instruments necessary for gene expression studies at RNA and protein level. From January 2003, an anatomist, (Ágnes Kittel) who previously has been working in a thematically related area in the Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Research (terminated in 2002) has been joined to the group. In addition, the group also utilize the expertise of a chemist (Mária Baranyi), in order to provide HPLC background, indispensable for neurotransmitter release studies. Therefore the main division of labour in the lab is the following: Attila Köfalvi (now he is temporarily abroad at a collaborators lab), Tamás Balázsa, Attila Heinrich and Zsuzsa Körössy: in vitro neurotransmitter release experiments, Éva Szénássy and Mária Baranyi: HPLC analyses, Lilla Papp: molecular biology, Ágnes Kittel: anatomy.  The international research grant of the Volkswagen Foundation, awarded at the beginning of 2002 was instrumental in this evolution and in the achievement of the independent status of the lab. Their current activity include three main research directions: 1. The functional mapping of purinergic signaling in the nervous system 2.  Modulation of neurotransmitter release by abuse drugs, in particular presynaptic cannabinoid and nicotinic receptors. 3. Neurochemical basis of neurodegenerative diseases.

They use a multidisciplinary approach to investigate  purinergic signalling, which includes the study of the release, extracellular inactivation and  pre- and postsynaptic effects of ATP and other purines (neurotransmitter release, hormone, cytokine production, Ca2+ signaling) during neuronal activity, receptor mapping and identification (RT-PCR, immunocytochemistry, pharmacology, transgenic approach). The investigation on cannabinoid and nicotinic receptors also include a combined approach utilizing both morphological (immuncytochemistry, Western blotting) and functional (neurochemistry) mapping strategy and transgenics. It is important to emphasize that the main purpose of the research is not only to understand the role of these signaling systems under physiological conditions, but also in disease states of the nervous system in order to identify drug targets for pharmacotherapy. To this end pathological models (ischemia, oxidative stress, inflammation) are also utilized and there is an expanding collaboration with pharmaceutical companies and clinicians.