Introduction to the College on Problems of Drug Dependence Special Issue: Contemporary Advances in Opioid Neuropharmacology

Sharon L. Walsh, Ellen M. Unterwald, Sari Izenwasser

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorial

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Opioid receptors are critical therapeutic targets for medications development relevant to the treatment of drug dependence and pain. With recent advances in molecular neurobiology, it has become evident that the functional activity of opioid receptors, as ligand-regulated protein complexes, is modulated by multifarious intracellular and extracellular events, that there is genetic variation in coding for receptors, and that the activity of endogenous opioid systems may underlie actions common to other addictive disorders. This supplemental issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, arising from an invited symposium at the 71st Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, provides a series of contemporary reviews focused on recent advances in opioid neuropharmacology. Each speaker provides herein an invited comprehensive review of the state of knowledge on a specific topic in opioid neuropharmacology. Evans and colleagues describe the multi-faceted control of the opioid G-protein coupled receptor as a dynamic " sensor" complex and identify novel targets for drug development. von Zastrow focuses on opioid receptor-mediated events regulated by endocytosis and membrane trafficking through the endocytic pathway and differential responses to opioid agonists. Blendy and colleague provide a review of human association studies on the functional relevance of the mu opioid receptor variant, A118G, and presents data from the A112G knock-in model, an analogous mouse variant to A118G. Finally, Maldonado and colleagues provide a broader systems review from genetic, pharmacologic and behavioral studies implicating the endogenous opioid systems as a substrate for the mediation of substance use disorders spanning pharmacological classes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)153-155
Number of pages3
JournalDrug and Alcohol Dependence
Volume108
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2010

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Elsevier, the publisher of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, provided financial support for this project that assisted with travel costs for the four speakers to attend the CPDD meeting and covered publication costs. The four primary authors of the reviews received honorarium provided by the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. The guest editors received no funding for their role in this project. Sharon Walsh was supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA027031 [SLW], DA016718 [SLW], and DA019433 [SLW], DA 22191-01[SLW]). Ellen Unterwald was supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA009580 [EMU], DA13429 [MW Adler/EMU], DA018326 [EMU] and DA05130 [MJ Kreek/EMU]). Sari Izenwasser was supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug abuse (DA 17343 [SI] and DA 024584-0002 [SI]).

Keywords

  • Abuse
  • Analgesia
  • Genetics
  • Molecular biology
  • Opioid
  • Pharmacology
  • Receptor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Toxicology
  • Pharmacology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Pharmacology (medical)

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