Opioid receptors: Toward separation of analgesic from undesirable effects

Ping Yee Law, Patricia H. Reggio, Horace H. Loh

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

51 Scopus citations

Abstract

The use of opioid analgesics for pain has always been hampered by their many side effects; in particular, the addictive liability associated with chronic use. Recently, attempts to develop analgesic agents with reduced side effects have targeted either the putative opioid receptor splice variants or the receptor hetero-oligomers. This review discusses the potential for receptor splice variant- and the hetero-oligomer-based discovery of new opioid analgesics. We also examine an alternative approach of using receptor mutants for pain management. Finally, we discuss the role of the biased agonism observed and the recently reported opioid receptor crystal structures in guiding the future development of opioid analgesics.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)275-282
Number of pages8
JournalTrends in Biochemical Sciences
Volume38
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is supported in parts by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) grants DA023905 (P.Y.L.), DA031442 (P.Y.L.), DA000564 (H.H.L.), DA011806 (H.H.L.), and K05 DA021358 (P.H.R.).

Keywords

  • Hetero-oligomers
  • Receptor mutants as therapeutic targets
  • Receptor splice variants

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