PNU-282987 is a potent and selective a7 nAChR agonist. This compound showed high affinity for the rat a7 nAChR (Ki = 26 nM) and activity at the a7–5-HT3 chimera (EC50 = 128 nM). In addition, PNU-282987 was found to be inactive at all tested monoamine, muscarine, glutamate, and GABA receptors at 1 uM concentration, except 5-HT3 receptors (Ki = 930 nM). The highly selective and potent a7 nAChR agonist PNU-282987 enhances GABAergic synaptic activity in the hippocampus in vitro, and reverses amphetamine induced auditory gating deficit in anesthetized rats. In addition, PNU-282987 improves the inherent gating deficit observed in a subset of rats and enhances amphetamine induced hippocampal activity. These results support the concept that a7 nAChR agonists represent a novel, potential pharmacotherapy in treatment of schizophrenia. It also has being shown that acute lung injury is reduced by PNU-282987 through changes in the macrophage profile.