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Papers of the Week


Papers: 18 Nov 2023 - 24 Nov 2023


2023 Nov 20


Elife


37983079


12

Differential interaction patterns of opioid analgesics with µ opioid receptors correlate with ligand-specific voltage sensitivity.

Authors

Kirchhofer SB, Lim VJY, Ernst S, Karsai N, Julia RG, Canals M, Kolb P, Bünemann M

Abstract

The µ opioid receptor (MOR) is the key target for analgesia, but the application of opioids is accompanied by several issues. There is a wide range of opioid analgesics, differing in their chemical structure and their properties of receptor activation and subsequent effects. A better understanding of ligand-receptor interactions and the resulting effects is important. Here, we calculated the respective binding poses for several opioids and analyzed interaction fingerprints between ligand and receptor. We further corroborated the interactions experimentally by cellular assays. As MOR was observed to display ligand-induced modulation of activity due to changes in membrane potential, we further analyzed the effects of voltage sensitivity on this receptor. Combining and approaches, we defined discriminating interaction patterns responsible for ligand-specific voltage sensitivity and present new insights into their specific effects on activation of the MOR.