The sigma1 receptor acts as a chaperone at the endoplasmic reticulum, associates with multiple proteins in various cellular systems, and involves in a number of diseases, such as addiction, pain, cancer and psychiatric disorders.
The sigma-1 receptor (σ1-R) and sigma-2 receptor (σ2-R) are potential drug targets for treatment of cancer, pain, depression, retinal degeneration and other neuronal diseases.