The molecular structure of opiate receptors

Examples are given which demonstrate that the opiate receptor can be separted from and subtypes by their physical parameters. When the subunit composition of the subtypes are compared, no definite differences are encountered. The data from the literature are also contradictory. This may in part be explained by the fact that the different receptors appear to contain a structurally common high affinity binding site. A possible hypothesis would be that the subtypes differ from each other by the number of subunits.Abbreviations CHAPS 3/cholamidopropyl-dimethylammonio 1-propansulfonate - DAGO D-Ala²-Me-Phe⁴-Gly-ol⁵-enkephalin - DALA d-Ala²-Leu⁵-enkephalin - DALECK d-Ala²-Leu⁵-enkaphalin chloromethyl ketone - EGF Epidermal growth factor - EKC ethylketocyclazocine - SDS-PAGE Sodiumdodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel elecctrophoresisSpecial Issue Dedicated to Dr. Abel Lajtha.