The neoclerodane diterpenoid salvinorin A is a major secondary metabolite isolated from the psychoactive plant Salvia divinorum. Salvinorin A has been shown to have high affinity and selectivity for the κ-opioid receptor (KOR). To study the ligand-receptor interactions that occur between salvinorin A and the KOR, a new series of salvinorin A derivatives bearing potentially reactive Michael...
The crystal structures of opioid receptors provide a novel platform for inquiry into opioid receptor function. The molecular determinants for activation of the κ-opioid receptor (KOR) were studied using a combination of agonist docking, functional assays, and site-directed mutagenesis. Eighteen positions in the putative agonist binding site of KOR were selected and evaluated for their effects...
The highly potent and kappa-opioid (KOP) receptor-selective hallucinogen Salvinorin A and selected analogs have been analyzed using the 3D quantitative structure-affinity relationship technique Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA) in an effort to derive a statistically significant and predictive model of salvinorin affinity at the KOP receptor and to provide additional statistical...
Salvinorin A, the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogen, has attracted an increasing amount of attention since the kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) was identified as its principal molecular target by us [Roth, B. L., et al. (2002) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99, 11934-11939]. Here we report the design, synthesis, and biochemical characterization of novel, irreversible, salvinorin A-derived...
Salvinorin A, the active component of the hallucinogenic sage Salvia divinorum, is an apparently selective and highly potent kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) agonist. Salvinorin A is unique among ligands for peptidergic G protein-coupled receptors in being nonnitrogenous and lipid-like in character. To examine the molecular basis for the subtype-selective binding of salvinorin A, we utilized an...
Salvinorin A is a naturally occurring hallucinogenic diterpenoid from the plant Salvia divinorumthat selectively and potently activates kappa-opioid receptors (KORs). Salvinorin A is unique in that it is the only known lipid-like molecule that selectively and potently activates a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), which has as its endogenous agonist a peptide; salvinorin A is also the only...