🎉🎉🎉 We are pleased to highlight a recent AM-3 study led by Luca Posa, Giovanna R. Romano, Xiang (Carolyn) Ji, Saif Khan, Antonina L. Nazarova, and colleagues from the  labs of Cornelius Gati (USC), Joshua Levitz (Weill Cornell Medicine), Dirk Trauner (UPenn) and Vsevolod Katritch (USC), published in Cell:

“An opioid efficacy switch for reversible optical control of analgesia”
DOI: https://lnkd.in/e5fh7AVQ

The μ-opioid receptor (MOR) is a central target for pain treatment, but systemic receptor activation also contributes to tolerance, constipation, respiratory suppression, dependence, and other adverse effects. This study introduces azo-morphine-3 (AM-3), a reversibly photoswitchable morphinan agonist that transitions between a low-efficacy trans state and a high-efficacy cis state under different wavelengths of light, enabling spatial and temporal control of MOR signaling.

The authors combined medicinal chemistry and photochemical characterization with cellular signaling assays, patch-clamp electrophysiology, cryo-electron microscopy, molecular-dynamics simulations, pharmacokinetic analysis, and behavioral testing in mouse pain models. This integrated approach connected ligand photoisomerization with receptor-state dynamics and in vivo antinociceptive activity, demonstrating how multiple research areas can be bridged to achieve precise control over drug efficacy in space and time.

We are honoured to share that the reported synthetic program used three AmBeed-sourced aminophenyl carboxylic acids as building blocks in the preparation of the azo-morphine series:
• 3-Aminophenylacetic acid
CAS No. 14338-36-4 | Cat. No. A569400
https://www.arctomsci.com
• 3-(3-Aminophenyl)propanoic acid
CAS No. 1664-54-6 | Cat. No. A388789
https://www.arctomsci.com
• 4-(4-Aminophenyl)butanoic acid
CAS No. 15118-60-2 | Cat. No. A297866
https://www.arctomsci.com

At www.arctomsci.com, we provide comprehensive coverage of research chemicals and signalling inhibitors. These resources are essential for systematically varying aryl substitution and spacer length during the development of photoswitchable morphinan analogues. For all your support needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to [email protected]. 🐝🧡

#ResearchUsingAmBeed #Cell #Photopharmacology #OpioidResearch #MuOpioidReceptor #MedicinalChemistry #ChemicalBiology #StructuralBiology #CryoEM #PainResearch #DrugDiscovery

#AmBeed

Source: AmBeed LinkedIn post
LinkedIn publication date: 2026-10-20 (UTC, derived from the activity ID).