Opioids and Their Receptors: Present and Emerging Concepts in Opioid Drug Discovery
Topic Information
Dear Colleagues,
Following the successful previous two editions of the Special Issue “Opioids and Their Receptors: Present and Emerging Concepts in Opioid Drug Discovery” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules/special_issues/Opioid_Drug) in Molecules, this new joint Special Issue of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Journal of Clinical Medicine, Molecules, Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceutics, and Chemistry aims to gather works on the latest chemical and pharmacological developments in opioid research, with a further understanding of opioids and opioid-receptor-mediated actions and the search for alternative treatments for pain and other human disorders where the opioid system plays an central role. Special attention is drawn to advancing concepts in opioid drug discovery in the light of the current opioid crisis. We thank you for your past contributions and welcome original articles, short communications, and review articles on current and emerging concepts in opioid drug discovery and in general opioid research, ranging from basic science to translational research.
Prof. Dr. Mariana Spetea
Prof. Dr. Hideaki Fujii
Prof. Dr. Jay P. McLaughlin
Topic Editors
Keywords
- opioid receptors and opioids ligands
- opioid epidemic
- natural and synthetic compounds
- agonists, antagonists, and partial agonists
- biased agonists and allosteric modulators
- multifunctional and bivalent ligands
- drug design
- synthesis and analytics
- molecular docking and dynamics simulations
- structure–activity relationships
- pain
- CNS disorders
- opioid side effects
- opioids and substance abuse
- opioids and respiration