Pharmacology & therapeutics
May 1, 2004
Bryan L Roth, Estela Lopez, Scott Beischel et al.
98 citations
Psychoactive plants alter perception, emotion, and cognition, and understanding their molecular mechanisms may reveal the biological basis of consciousness and provide validated targets for central nervous system drug discovery. This review describes an unbiased, discovery-based approach that screens the main active ingredients of psychoactive plants against the 'receptorome'—the portion of the proteome encoding receptors. It overviews the receptorome, describes public-domain in silico resources, and details new tools for mining data from the National Institute of Mental Health Psychoactive Drug Screening Program's K(i) Database. Three case studies on Hypericum perforatum, Salvia divinorum, and Ephedra sinica illustrate the approach, and recommendations for future studies are offered.
Biochemistry
June 21, 2005
Feng Yan, Philip D Mosier, Richard B Westkaemper et al.
91 citations
Salvinorin A, a hallucinogenic compound from the plant Salvia divinorum, selectively and potently activates kappa-opioid receptors (KORs), making it the only known lipid-like molecule to do so and the only non-nitrogenous opioid receptor agonist. Key residues in KORs responsible for its high binding affinity and agonist efficacy were identified: interactions with tyrosine residues in helix 7 (Tyr313 and Tyr320) and helix 2 (Tyr119) stabilize salvinorin A in the binding pocket, while activation requires interactions with helix 7 tyrosines Tyr312, Tyr313, and Tyr320 and with Tyr139 in helix 3.
Biochemistry
July 28, 2009
Feng Yan, Ruslan V Bikbulatov, Viorel Mocanu et al.
81 citations
Salvinorin A, the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogen, targets the kappa-opioid receptor (KOR). Researchers designed and synthesized novel irreversible salvinorin A-derived ligands, RB-64 and RB-48, as active state probes of KOR. Based on molecular modeling, they targeted cysteine residue C315(7.38) for covalent binding. Both compounds were extraordinarily potent and selective KOR agonists in vitro and in vivo. RB-64 showed wash-resistant inhibition of binding requiring a free cysteine near the binding pocket. Mass spectrometry confirmed C315(7.38) as the anchoring residue and suggested a biochemical mechanism for covalent binding. These findings provide direct evidence of a free cysteine in the agonist-bound KOR state and insights into salvinorin A's binding and activation mechanism.
The Journal of biological chemistry
February 2, 2007
Timothy A Vortherms, Philip D Mosier, Richard B Westkaemper et al.
40 citations
Salvinorin A, the active compound in the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum, binds selectively and potently to the kappa-opioid receptor (KOR). Unlike most ligands for peptide-binding receptors, it is non-nitrogenous and lipid-like. Using chimeric receptors, mutagenesis, accessibility methods, and modeling, the study found that helix 2 of KOR is essential for binding, with two valine residues (Val-108 and Val-118) conferring selectivity. Modeling suggested these residues indirectly affect binding by rotating helix 2. Accessibility experiments comparing KOR and the delta-opioid receptor, which does not bind salvinorin A, showed differential water accessibility of key residues, indicating that differences in helix 2 orientation are critical for salvinorin A's selective binding to KOR.