Structural and functional studies on pain-relevant class A GPCRs

The opioid epidemic, driven by the widespread misuse of opioid medications, has led to a public health crisis due to addiction, overdose, and death. Opioids, while effective for pain relief, carry significant risks of dependency and life-threatening side effects. This crisis highlights the urgent need for alternative targets for pain treatment and further development of opioid medications that are effective but less prone to abuse.Therefore, the promising alternative targets 5-HT1AR and D3R were structurally investigated to assist hit identification. Additionally, G protein-biased µOR ligands were functionally investigated.