Scientists have demonstrated that conolidine, a natural painkiller derived from the pinwheel flower and traditionally used in Chinese medicine, interacts with the newly identified opioid receptor ACKR3/ CXCR7 that regulates opioid peptides naturally produced in the brain. The researchers also developed a synthetic analogue of conolidine, RTI-5152-12, which displays an even greater activity on the receptor.
These findings, which were published on June 3rd in the international journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy (Nature publishing group), further advance the understanding of pain regulation and open alternative therapeutic avenues for the treatment of chronic pain.
Opioid peptides are small proteins that mediate pain relief and emotions, in...
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