Generic placeholder image

Current Pharmaceutical Design

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1381-6128
ISSN (Online): 1873-4286

Current κ Opioid Receptor Ligands and Discovery of a New Molecular Scaffold as a κ Opioid Receptor Antagonist Using Pharmacophore-Based Virtual Screening

Author(s): Mariana Spetea, Muhammad Faheem Asim, Stefan Noha, Gerhard Wolber and Helmut Schmidhammer

Volume 19, Issue 42, 2013

Page: [7362 - 7372] Pages: 11

DOI: 10.2174/138161281942140105162601

Price: $65

Abstract

The κ opioid receptor (KOR) plays a significant role in many physiological functions, including pain relief, stress, depression, drug abuse, anxiety and psychotic behaviors. KORs are widely distributed in the central and peripheral nervous systems, and are specifically activated by endogenous opioids derived from prodynorphin. They are members of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily, and the crystal structure of the human KOR was recently elucidated. KORs were initially studied for their involvement in mediation of pain as stimulation of KOR produces analgesia and minimizes abuse liability and other side effects. Nowadays, the KOR is rapidly emerging as an important target for the treatment of a variety of other human disorders. Specifically, the KOR system has become increasingly implicated as a modulator of stress-related and addictive behaviors. Several selective KOR partial agonists and antagonists have been developed as potential antidepressants, anxiolytic and anti-addiction medications. Although many KOR ligands have not demonstrated desirable pharmacological properties, some have been shown to be viable drug candidates. Herein, we describe chemical and pharmacological developments on KOR ligands, advantages and challenges, and potential therapeutic applications of ligands for KORs. In the second part, recent advances in the KOR drug design utilizing computational approaches are presented, with focus on the discovery of a new naturally derived scaffold, sewarine, as a novel class of selective KOR ligands with antagonist properties, using a pharmacophore-based virtual screening strategy.

Keywords: κ Opioid receptor, agonist, antagonist, sewarine, drug design, pharmacophore, virtual screening.


Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy